Food and retail conglomerate Uni-President Group (統一集團) is aiming to boost its revenue from health and beauty products to NT$30 billion (US$1 billion) by opening new stores to sell brands under its umbrella.
The group, led by Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) and President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商), last week made its first move by launching a flagship store of its new luxury beauty shop — Beauty Forum No. 1 (美人塾1號) — at its Uni-President Hankyu Department Store (統一阪急百貨) in Taipei.
The store, in which the group invested more than NT$10 million, is a collaboration of the group’s five fashion and beauty care-related businesses — Uni-President Hankyu, Dream-Mall Co (夢時代), President Pharmaceutical Corp (統一藥品), fitness and spa center operator Being Corp (統一佳佳) and President Drugstore Business Corp (統一生活事業), which owns the nation’s second-largest drugstore chain, Cosmed (康是美).
The idea and concept was created by Kao Shiu-ling (高秀玲), daughter of Uni-President Group founder Kao Ching-yuan (高清愿).
“The establishment of the new shop is the first step to integrate resources from the group’s beauty businesses and it will lead to more customers getting to know the group’s beauty-related brands,” group chairman Alex Lo (羅智先), who is Kao Shiu-ling’s husband, told a media briefing after the opening of Beauty Forum.
Uni-President’s five beauty businesses had sales of NT$26.5 billion last year , up 12.77 percent from the previous year.
When touting the integration last year, Lo said the synergy of the group’s various beauty businesses would help raise its annual revenue related to the fashion and beauty sectors to NT$30 billion over the next two to three years.
The group also launched a new lifestyle brand — Unidesign — last week as the other major move in Lo’s integration plan.
The brand, developed and introduced by PCSC and Cosmed, plans to sell essential products, such as tissues, toothbrushes and dental floss, in Cosmed and 7-Eleven stores.
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