Page 15 - September 2020

asia news inbrief

THE SHOPPES AT MARINA BAY SANDS WELCOMES THE BODY SHOP SET TO LAUNCH

NEW-TO-MARKET BRANDS ACTIVIST STORE IN SINGAPORE MACAU STORE FOR DUNHILL
British luxury menswear label Dunhill has
opened a new store at Wynn Palace in Macau.
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands is charting the Cosmetics & skin care retailer The Body Shop The Dunhill Wynn Palace opening is part of the
way forward with a steady line-up of store openings is launching an “activist workshop” store in brand’s expansion strategy in Asia. The store
and expansions scheduled for the rest of 2020 and Singapore at the Ion Orchard shopping centre. features a contemporary yet elegant design
beyond. Some 220 tenants, including dining outlets, Building oon the brand’s reputation for with modern elements such as its signature
have resumed operations since 19 June, with those being environmentally aware and natural, marble, leather and mmetal details.
located within the hotel being the latest to join the the store has been transformed into
roster of re-openings. an interactive ‘activist workshop’ that
The Shoppes continues to register growth in luxury encourages visitors to explore and recycle MECCA TO MOVE INTO CHINA
footprint this year across its fashion and children’s products. The store features sustainable Australian beauty Mecca is entering the
departments. Earlier this April, CELINE unveiled its fixtures of reclaimed wood and recycled competitive Chinese market and launching its
flagship store at The Shoppes, making it the Maison’s plastics as well as low-energy footprint zinc luxury flagship store at online marketplace
largest store in Southeast Asia at 3,400sq ft. cladding and worktop surfaces made from Tmall. Known for its curation of nice and luxury
In addition, after five years of operations, British material otherwise destined for landfill. local and international cosmetics, the brand has
luxury fashion house Alexander McQueen is set to Features exclusive to the outlet include a launched an edit of 22 first-to-market brands.
triple its existing footprint to occupy 3,300sq ft of DIY gifting station, a cruelty-free fragrance
retail space in a new location within The Shoppes and collection and a water station, as well as
it is slated to open at the end of 2020. an ‘activit bay’ where visitors can take TACO BELL OPENS NEW UNIT
inspiration from the brand’s campaigns. Yum China has launched Beijing’s first Taco
JD OUTLINES EXPANSION ALIBABA THRIVES AFTER Bell store, in the Liangmaqiao district. The Taco
Bell Beijing store offers the brand’s nachos
STRATEGY IN CHINA COVID-19 CHALLENGES ALLBIRDS TAKING ITS FIRST STEPS and tacos along with exclusive local selections
INTO SOUTH KOREA MARKET for Chinese customers such as a rice bowl,
seasoned bone chicken and taco pizza.
Chinese e-commerce giant JD is planning on a widespread store Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group’s revenue soared 34
network expansion within five years. The firm will open 20 E-Space per cent to US$21.762bn in the June quarter as the company New Zealand footwear label Allbirds is and we’re delighted to share our purpose-
experience stores in first-tier cities, 300 home-appliance flagship emerged strongly from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic expanding its retail network into South led products and world-class level of care MERRYMART WANTS TO GROW
stores in prefectural-level cities and 5,000 stores in towns and villages in its home market. Korea. From the early stages of Allbirds’ with our Korean customers,” Verma said. Philippines grocery chain MerryMart will launch
by 2025, according to the firm’s Senior VP Yan Xiaobing. “Our domestic core commerce business has fully recovered international expansion plan, South Korea Founded in 2016 by New Zealand its inaugural drive-thru outlet in Iloilo City in
Yan made the announcement at a press conference marking the to pre-Covid-19 levels across the board, while cloud computing was always high on the list as the company footballer Tim Brown, who later teamed January. The new drive-thru is in part a response
completion of JD’s full acquisition of home-appliance chain 5Star, revenue grew 59 per cent year-on-year,” CFO Maggie Wu said makes its Wool Runner product in Busan. with American biotech engineer Joey to the impace fo the coronavirus pandemic. The
commenting that the complete store network “will create a new in a statement. “We delivered a very strong start to our new “As we continue to expand our international Zwillinger, Allbirds now sells in 35 countries frim is planning to deploy this concept in multilpe
offline JD”. The E-Space stores, known for allowing consumers to try fiscal year.” footprint, we’re excited to finally enter with more than 20 of its own brick-and- locations at various major thoroughfares.
anything in store, will be 50,000–100,000sq m in size, while the home- Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was $6.736bn the Korean market and connect with our mortar stores worldwide. The brand is
appliance stores will be 10,000–20,000sq m each. and Chairman and CEO Daniel Zhang said the company is well existing community here, further establishing renowned for its logo-free sneakers that are
5Star, to be renamed JD 5Star, is the third-largest home-appliance placed to take advantage of the ongoing digital transformation Allbirds as an important sustainable fashion made from sustainable materials. RETAILER TO GROW NETWORK
chain in the territory, with annual sales of more than US$2.6bn. which has been sped up by the pandemic. player in Asia,” said Sandeep Verma, Head of “The response we’ve received thus far has Taiwanese tea brand Yi Fang Fruit Tea is
International. been beyond what we could/ve ever imagined expansing its retail network globally despite the
The company considers South Korea as when we first started this,” said Zwillinger, Covid-19 pandemic. The founder of Yi Fang, Ko
a strategic market as it looks to strengthen Co-CEO of Allbirds. Last April, Allbirds Tzu-kai, said the brand will open more stores
its presence in greater Asia. “Allbirds’ became the first apparel brand to label all of this year after it already opening more than 12
mission to tread lighter on the planet has its products with a Carbon Footprint score, outlets across regions including Thailand, and
resonated with people far and wide, from designed to inform customers of the carbon the Philippines since July.
Berlin to New York, from LA to Shanghai, impact of its products.

GENTLE MONSTER
UNVEILS FLAGSHIP

Gentle Monster has unveiled another flagship
concept in Shenyang, China after launching the
“Memory” theme in Hangzhou last month.
Themed “New Normal”, the Korean eyewear
retailer’s new store in Shenyang is inspired by
the idea of how AI will be “deeply embedded in
human life.” The story behind the new concept,
according to the company, is “the upcoming
future where AL is no longer a strange concept,
but a ‘New Normal’.”
Several artworks adorn the store’s walls and
floors and the store houses a lion head sculpture.

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