Takashimaya To Open New Department Store In Shanghai

Japanese retail giant Takashimaya and Gubei Group, a subsidiary of China Enterprise, have jointly announced that Takashimaya will open a new department store in Gubei, Shanghai.

With a total construction area of 60,000 square meters, Takashimaya's new department store in Shanghai — its first in mainland China — will cover eight floors and is expected to be opened in 2012.

According to a representative from Takashimaya's Shanghai office, the new department store will provide a wide range products that are normally available in department stores, including apparel, cosmetics, jewelry, home supplies, and food, in addition to offering catering and leisure facilities. Its target customers are high-income people who live in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region.

With a history of 180 years, Takashimaya is one of the largest department store chains in Japan. It owns more than 20 chain stores in its domestic Japanese market and it topped the revenue list of Japanese department stores in 2007. However, compared with its development in domestic market, its expansion in the overseas markets has been slow. So far, Takashimaya has only opened three overseas outlets in New York, Taipei, and Singapore.