The coldest weather for 11 years helped the nation's largest department store chain break Lunar New Year's sales records.
"We have seen sales of NT$1.2 billion generated by our 11 outlets nationwide during the five-day New Year holiday from New Year's Eve [Wednesday] to Sunday, which is a record for our sales during this period since our establishment 13 years ago," Shauna Lee (
"The coldest weather during the holidays in the past 11 years prompted people to do more indoor activities, like shopping in department stores, which contributed a lot to our sales," Lee said.
Mitsukoshi's Taichung outlet recorded the highest sales during the holidays. Sales there grew 11 percent to NT$300 million.
Lee predicted that sales at all the nation's department stores could be as high as NT$4 billion for the holiday period.
"Spurred by the low temperatures, heaters and warm clothing are our best-sellers," Lee said. "Clearance sales of clothes plus parents' generosity in buying children's toys helped boost sales in this period as well."
Mitsukoshi's major rival, Pacific Sogo Department Store Group (太平洋崇光百貨), agreed with Lee's comments, adding that "lucky bags" containing popular products such as cosmetics and electronic items helped attract customers and lifted sales.
"Our Taipei outlet alone generated sales of NT$300 million over the five-day period ... an increase of 11 percent from last year, which is better than our expectations," said Nancy Ting (
Core Pacific City Mall (
"Our cinema was packed with customers who needed to queue for 20 minutes to buy tickets," said spokeswoman Alison Kao (高治華).
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
CHIPS AND DEFENSE: Trump said the US had lost its chip business and Taipei should pay it for defense, and added that ‘we’re no different than an insurance company’ Taiwan-US relations are solid, and both sides are in agreement that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region are everyone’s concern, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday following comments by former US president Donald Trump that Taiwan “should pay” for US defense. Taiwan is thankful to the US for supporting Taiwan’s bid to participate in international organizations, Cho told a news conference in Taipei. “I know the people very well, respect them greatly. They did take about 100 percent of our chip business,” Trump told Bloomberg on June 25 in an interview that was published on Tuesday. “I think
SHOW OF SUPPORT: Taiwan has been one of the largest buyers of US defense equipment, supporting American businesses and jobs, US lawmakers said Taiwan has been paying for its own defense, a US Department of State official said on Wednesday, adding that purchases of military equipment are important to the US economy and for ensuring regional security. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was asked at a news conference about comments by former US president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in November’s US presidential election, who said during an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek that Taiwan should pay Washington for its defense needs. “The purchases that they [Taiwan] have made not only are important, we believe, to regional security, but are important to the United States economy,”
Hsu Wen-erh (許汶而) on Friday became the first Taiwanese to swim solo across the English Channel, saying she was very happy to bring Taiwan to the world. Hsu completed the challenge in 12 hours, 17 minutes and eight seconds, after swimming across the Strait of Gibraltar in October last year. She said she had planned to swim the English Channel in August next year, but seized the opportunity when a vacancy became available on the waiting list. She went to the UK in May to train for a test that involves swimming for six hours at 16°C, which people who want to swim