Hoping to steal some of the limelight from fashion outlet-packed Taipei, the Dream Mall (
The new shopping mall is the nation's largest, with a floor space of 121,000 ping (399,300m2), the sixth-largest in Asia and the 11th largest in the world.
The mall rises nine stories and has three basement levels and has roped in Japan's Hankyu Department Store; Japan's largest lifestyle and home-furnishing brand, Nitori; the UK's Marks & Spencer; and a sub-zero temperature playground introduced from Japan so subtropical Taiwanese can experience a winter wonderland.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
All of these retailers will make their Taiwan debut at the Dream Mall.
However, Hankyu Department Store, Marks & Spencer and Nitori will not open their doors for business until May 12, when a grand opening ceremony is scheduled.
Dream Mall president Paul Chang (
Chang predicted that the mall, which took an investment of NT$18.5 billion, would break even within three years and start pulling in profits in ten years.
Another much-anticipated feature is the mall's NT$200 million rooftop Ferris wheel, whose 36 carts are painted with Sanrio Co's famous cartoon figures, including Hello Kitty, Cinnamoroll Dog and Badtz-Maru penguin.
The firm said it is the only Ferris wheel in Taiwan with a view of the ocean.
Taipei's Miramar Entertainment Park (美麗華百樂園) in Dazhi District also banks on its rooftop 48-cart Ferris wheel, the second-largest in the world after the wheel atop the Hip Five shopping center in Osaka, Japan, as a draw for those curious to get a bird's eye view of the greater Taipei area.
Statistics show that Kaohsiung's department store and shopping mall market is worth about NT$22 billion per annum. Hanshin Department Store takes the lion's share with sales of NT$10 billion a year.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
RSS