New Yaohan Inaugurated on Olympic Games Opening Day

Macau’s time-honoured department store New Yaohan is scheduled to open in Nam Van on 8th August 2008. According to some scholars, it will help reverse the outflow of people from the central part of Macau after the large casinos in Cotai come into operation. Sio Chi Wai, a retailer, also thinks that the opening of New Yaohan in the downtown area will enhance its traditional retailing and business advantages, with a palpable rallying effect, balancing the rising Cotai area to some extent.

According to the spokesman of New Yaohan, once moved from the ZAPE area to the Nam Van district, the department store will have nine storeys instead of four. The floor area of each storey will be relatively smaller than before with some counters and shops altered. The department store will carry on its existing business strategy, with direct marketing still predominating at the new venue. According to Sio Chi Wai, the relocation to the Nam Van commercial district, neighbouring the hotels and only a few minutes’ walk from the traditional retailing area, will help retain people in the central district. In particular, to the advantage of the area, the development in the central district and the newly rising Cotai area will balance each other. The congregating effect will be maximized with more business opportunities attracting people to other surrounding districts such as the inner harbour area.

Macau’s population being 500,000 means local demands can hardly sustain large retailing or attract large, foreign-backed department stores. According to Sio Chi Wai, linking large shopping malls would help direct the flow of people from one area to another. Therefore he advised the government to launch preferential lease subsidies to attract large department stores or world famous retailers to invest in Macau. As a matter of fact, following the establishment of famous department stores, the congregating effect will become tangible, luring more brand retailers, and as a consequence retailing scale and effects will be maximized and more customers will be attracted.

With regard to local retailers, Sio claimed that the number of tourists this summer shows a decrease following the restrictions placed in the mainland on the individual travel scheme. Economic growth may slow down following the government ‘tuning’ the gaming industry. He suspects that people might be less willing to spend money. Only time will tell how big the influence will actually be. He recommended that the retailing sector pay close attention to the situation and be prepared to adjust to the new environment.