Food conglomerate to turn Eslite Xinyi into 'Dream Plaza' mall

Taipei, Nov. 18 (CNA) Uni-President Group, a leading food conglomerate in Taiwan, is set to transform popular bookstore chain Eslite Spectrum Corp.'s 24-hour store in Taipei's upscale Xinyi District into a shopping mall called "Dream Plaza," which will be adjacent to the food group's existing Uni-President Taipei department store.

Kao Shiu-ling (高秀玲), head of Uni-President's beauty business, which runs the group's department stores and the Cosmed health and beauty chain, said during a Christmas light switch-on event held in Taipei on Friday that the group will focus on having unique brands stationed in Dream Plaza to give the mall an edge in the already-crowded department store scene in Xinyi District.

Kao, who is the wife of Uni-President Group Chairman Lo Chih-hsien (羅智先) and the only daughter of the group's late founder Kao Chin-yen (高清愿), said part of Dream Plaza could be open 24/7, including a flagships Starbucks store -- the brand is owned by the conglomerate -- but that this would depend on consumer demand.

Xinyi Eslite is scheduled to bid farewell to fans on Christmas Eve after failing to convince Uni-President, the current landlord, to extend its lease.

The Xinyi store began opening 24 hours a day in mid-2020 after the Eslite Dunnan store was closed following the expiration of its lease at the end of May that year. After the closure of the Xinyi branch, the Songyan outlet, located in Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, will succeed the outlet and be open 24/7.

According to Eslite, the newly refurbished 24-hour Songyan store is set to open no later than January 2024.

Commenting on the group's beauty business, Kao said the existing Dream Mall, located in southern Taiwan, currently has more than 800 vendors, while the Cosmed chain owns 100 pharmacies around Taiwan and has the goal of turning more of its outlets into 200-ping (one ping = 3.3 square meters) mini-department stores.

Meanwhile, Uni-President Group has also acquired hypermarket operator Carrefour Taiwan after completing an acquisition earlier this year.

In the first nine months of this year, Carrefour Taiwan incurred a loss of NT$1 billion (US$32.25 million). Lo said new management will try to ensure the hypermarket chain improves its bottom line by streamlining operations.

Lo added the group will continue to expand its logistics business by setting up large logistics compounds around Taiwan.

Regarding the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, Lo said there are plans to open more than 300 stores in Taiwan next year to boost the total number to 7,111 branches. Meanwhile, there are around 3,500 7-Eleven outlets in the Philippines, which is an 84 percent share of the convenience store market in the Southeast Asian country, with the number expected of shops set to rise to 4,000 in 2024.