GUANGZHOU: ParknShop, a leading supermarket chain based in Hong Kong, is striving to achieve a stronger presence on the mainland.

ParknShop plans to set up 15 mainland outlets this year, and aims to set up a total of 100 outlets by 2008, which would make it one of the fastest expanding retailers on the mainland, Hicks Feng, managing director of ParknShop China, told China Daily in an interview yesterday.

ParknShop is a member of A.S. Watson Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa Limited.

ParknShop set foot on the mainland by setting up a supermarket in Shenzhen in 1984, the first retailer from outside the mainland at that time.

Feng said ParknShop will consolidate its presence in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province and will also target central and southwestern regions, as well as Beijing and Shanghai.

ParknShop will give priority to the establishment of megastores in the next few years.

The chain's megastores cover at least 10,000 square metres, stocking at least 20,000 different products.

Each megastore requires an average investment of 50 million yuan (US$6.02 million), Feng said.

ParknShop opened nine outlets in 2004, bringing its total for the mainland to 31, of which 28 are located in the Pearl River Delta cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan.

Official statistics indicate Guangdong's retailing volume of social consumer products was worth 637 billion yuan (US$76.75 billion) in 2004, the highest of all mainland provinces.

Lin Hai, a professor at Jinan University, said the province has enormous market potential not only for daily necessities but also for luxuries, citing the business boom of Guangzhou La Perle as an example.

La Perle, a supermarket exclusively for globally renowned brands, has welcomed two VIP customers that have each spent 2 million yuan (US$240,964) since it opened early in 2004.

Feng revealed that ParknShop will open its flagship megastore in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, in September, which will be its first step towards a bonanza in Southwest China.

ParknShop will continue to focus on the safety and quality of products, Feng said; the principle of value for money, convenience and providing a rich variety of products as well as good service to hone its competitive edge.

(China Daily 04/27/2005 page10)