New shopping club eyes trendy young women

Ella Sun, a stylish 26-year-old woman working at an international trade company in Beijing, is typical of the 1980s generation, one that is regarded as a major consumer force in China.

A study by the accounting firm Ernst & Young showed that as Chinese women and as children of the 1980s, they are a combination of two major consumer forces in the Chinese mainland.

Unlike their elders, who shopped at crowded department stores sometimes served by unfriendly salespeople, Sun and her friends ask department store operators for better shopping environments, unique products and more personalized services.

To satisfy them, Hong Kong-based New World Department Store China Ltd (NWDS), one of the largest owners and operators of department stores in China, announced plans to open a massive 40,000 sq m women's shopping club in Beijing in 2010.

The Beijing Shishang New World Department Store will become the fourth NWDS store to open in Beijing.

"The shopping club will target female white-collar workers with good incomes and strong educational backgrounds, and only employ men as assistants," Adrian Cheng, executive director of NWDS, said.

Beijing's first department store especially designed for women will open at Bonding Center in the city's Chongwen district.

Cheng said NWDS is counting on a huge potential market of female consumers.

Chinese women are contributing more money to their households, and they apparently are making more consumer decisions for their families, Cheng said.

According to a recent report by MasterCard International, the total purchasing power of young Chinese women who are single or married without children is expected to rise from $180 billion in 2005 to $260 billion in 2015.

Sun is among those young women.

"I go shopping at least twice a week, but I'm very picky about my shopping destinations," Sun said.

"I always go shopping at large shopping malls that follow international fashion trends. For example, Shin Kong Place or Guomao are very similar to shopping malls I've been to in Paris and London," she said.

She also looks for plenty of variety in shopping for cosmetics, shoes, handbags and clothing.

"I don't want to buy things that I can find in many other stores. It is my shopping principle," Sun said.

Cheng said the new NWDS shopping club will offer more brands, and also exclusive brands.

"We are trying to create a more plentiful fashion portfolio for consumers," he said.

Cheng said the store also will adopt an "all-in-one" brand concept, selling various products carrying the same brand name to allow consumers a new way to coordinate clothes and accessories.

The new shopping club is targeting young women's pets, too.

There are an estimated 730,000 registered pets in Beijing. Sun spends about 350 yuan a month caring for her poodle, she said.

Cheng said the new shopping club will house Beijing's largest pet store, which will include an aquarium, a pet cosmetics salon and bird, reptile and rare animal displays.

"It will be an exciting place for pet lovers," Cheng said.

For shoppers, the store also will offer cultural events, and seminars and courses designed for female consumers.

"We provide far more than shopping," Cheng said.

Nationwide plans

NWDS entered the Chinese retailing market in 1993 and now operates 33 department stores in 17 cities.

Cheng said the company will invest as much as 100 million yuan through 2011 to renovate existing department stores to better serve targeted consumer groups.

Cheng said existing stores will be categorized as "fashion gallery" or "living gallery" stores.

Stores that are less than 35,000 sq m in size will be renovated as fashion galleries focusing on personal style services and goods, he said.

Larger stores will become living galleries, which he described as one-stop shopping centers for department store goods and also restaurants, fitness centers, children's playgrounds and food stores.

"The 'living gallery' will be an ideal place for a whole family to spend their holiday," Cheng said.

Cheng said NWDS plans to open two to three department stores in China annually for the next few years.

"We hope we can become a leader among China's department store operators," he said.

(China Daily 07/06/2009 page6)