Pacific Sogo Department Stores Co (太平洋崇光百貨) yesterday said it has become more cautious about this year’s business outlook, citing a slew of weaker-than-expected economic data.
The department store chain, which belongs to the Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) that operates seven department stores in the nation, said total sales so far this year have grown mildly by between 3 and 4 percent from the same period last year.
“The buying sentiment has slowed at a faster pace since April, compared with the solid growth pace in the first three months,” Pacific Sogo president James Wang Kuo (汪郭鼎松) told a media briefing yesterday.
Last week, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) cut the nation’s economic growth forecast to 3.28 percent this year from the 3.78 percent it projected in February, as the export-reliant economy is likely to take hit from a weaker global economy.
Although the exports sector was the major factor dragging down the government’s GDP projection, Wang Kuo said that might still gradually affect the momentum of domestic demand, including the department store operator’s sales momentum.
Pacific Sogo had earlier forecast its eight stores nationwide could generate NT$2.6 billion (US$84.41 million) in sales during the month-long Mother’s Day promotion campaign, predicting 3 to 4 percent growth from the same period last year.
However, Wang Kuo said the result was lower than the company’s expectations.
The firm saw annual declines — particularly in sales of jewelry and international luxuries — during the campaign at its three major stores in Taipei: the Zhongxiao, Fuxing and Dunhua stores, Wang Kuo said.
He said the company expects sales momentum to recover in the second half of this year, following tenant adjustments in the first half of the year.
Pacific Sogo added more than 100 tenants in its three Taipei stores during the latest adjustment, Wang Kuo said.
In addition, the department store operator has spent NT$500 million renovating its Dunhua store, which might reopen in September, he said.
The company is targeting 50 percent growth for the store’s sales, he said.
Overall, the three Taipei stores could generate more than NT$30 billion in sales for Pacific Sogo annually in the future, the company said.
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