Fnac racking up sales despite slowdown

Hard economic times in Taiwan aren't dampening the spirits of French retailer Fnac (法雅) which is planning to expand its operations here to eight stores over the next five years.

Frederic Lacour, communication and marketing manager for Fnac Taiwan yesterday said the second store for Taipei -- and for the whole of Asia -- will be opened in December.

The move demonstrates Fnac's confidence in Taiwan's retail market, in which Fnac saw revenue for its store on Tunghwa North Road "grow by 14 percent since May 2000 and 30 percent this May year-on-year," Lacour said.

Despite the negative economic numbers, "we chose to expand further after [our] research from Taiwan last year was different[showed growth], and we concluded that we have taken more market share." Lacour said.

The new store would take up four stories of a 12-floor renovated building to be called the Future Center located just behind the Shin Kong Life Insurance Building near the Taipei Railway Station.

The location almost right in the middle of one of Taipei's main youth districts was not coincidental, said Lacour who added that the focus of the store centers around youth culture.

An important move as Fnac Taiwan general manager Christophe Fond pointed out, as over "60 percent of Taiwan's consumer market is under the age of 25."

Like the current store, Fnac's latest branch will package an interwoven mix of high-tech products such as computers, stereos and TVs alongside Chinese, French and English-language books and stationary, as well as music CDs, videos and magazines.

Capping off what has become a strong and lucrative trend in Taipei retailing of combining art culture with sales -- with highly successful ventures such as Eslite Bookstores (誠品) and The Mall at the Far Eastern Plaza Hotel -- Fnac's new store will also boast upscale coffee shops and a regular series of art exhibitions.

However, Lacour claims that "Fnac has no direct competitor in Taipei -- the only competition lies directly in products."

Taiwan is currently Fnac's only foothold in Asia and according to Lacour the company plans eventually have four stores in Taipei and four other outlets in various other locations around Taiwan.

Fnac cooperated with Aurora Development Corp (宜陸開發) on the project, which is handling its leasing arrangements, communications and office equipment.

Fnac currently operates 60 stores in France and another 33 around the world, with most being located in Europe.

In related news, the Evergreen Group (長榮集團), which owns Taiwan's biggest sea transport company and the country's second-largest airline, has set up a company with Tesco Plc, the UK's largest supermarket chain, to jointly build a shopping mall on land owned by Evergreen.

The new company, owned in equal shares by Tesco and Evergreen, will build the mall in Taoyuan, where Tesco opened its first store in Taiwan last year.

The move is part of Tesco's plans to expand its presence in Asia. The supermarket chain opened its first store in the region in 1998 in Thailand and plans to increase its outlets in South Korea from seven to 55 by 2005.

Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), which owns the land that is slated to be developed, will take a 93 percent stake in the group's share of the new company, the company said in a statement to Taiwan's stock exchange. The new company will be capitalized at NT$800 million (US$23.5 million).