Costco Wholesale Co, which operates an international chain of membership warehouses, will open two new outlets in southern Taiwan next week, bringing the number of local locations to eight, a Costco executive said yesterday.
The new store in Greater Tainan will open on Tuesday and the one in Greater Kaohsiung the following day.
Richard Chang (張嗣漢), Costco’s country manager in Taiwan, estimated that the eight outlets would help the company generate sales of nearly NT$40 billion (US$1.38 billion) this year, up more than 10 percent from last year.
He predicted that revenues would exceed NT$40 billion next year, helping Costco solidify its place among the top three hypermarts in Taiwan, behind Carrefour and RT Mart.
Carrefour, which has 63 stores in Taiwan, has annual sales of more than NT$60 billion, while RT Mart, with 26 stores, has surpassed NT$40 billion in annual revenues for several years.
Chang said the company had delivered strong results over its 14 years in the country, building a membership network of nearly 1.5 million people and a member retention rate of 90 percent.
The store in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) has annual revenues of more than NT$8 billion and the second-highest profits among the more than 580 Costco warehouses worldwide, he said.
In addition to the Neihu branch, there are outlets in Taipei’s Shijhih (汐止), New Taipei City (新北市), Greater Taichung, Hsinchu City and Greater Kaohsiung. The company eventually plans to increase the number to 15 to 18.
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