Far Eastern Sogo Department Store (遠東SOGO) yesterday said that it would receive a boost in revenue later this year with the partial opening of its retail spaces next to the Taipei Dome (大巨蛋) complex.
Sogo Department Store chairwoman Sophia Huang (黃晴雯) shared the news at the company’s annual general meeting in Taipei, where shareholders approved a plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.26 per share based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$1.69.
SIZE OF THREE STORES
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
Huang said the “D” section of the new project called Sogo City might start operations in September, along with the Taipei Dome’s soft opening.
The company announced in June last year that it would run the mixed-use complex, which has four sections and a total floor space of 38,000 ping (125,620m2) next to the Taipei Dome.
Sogo City is as large as the three existing Sogo department stores on Zhongxiao E Road, Fuxing S Road and Dunhua S Road combined, Huang said.
Business recruitment was proceeding smoothly and 14 restaurant brands have agreed to open branches in the D section, Huang said, adding that all four sections could begin operating in the first quarter of 2025 and generate an extra NT$10 billion (US$325.52 million) in annual revenue.
LINK BETWEEN DISTRICTS
Sogo City would link Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) and Daan District (大安), and aims to inject a healthy dose of vitality into the latter, Huang said.
Toward that end, it might have longer operating hours, in conjunction with the 24-hour Eslite Book Store that is to open at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區), she said, not committing to a 24-hour operation model.
The lease for Sogo Department Store’s relatively small branch on Dunhua S Road is to expire in 2025 and the company has no intention of moving it elsewhere, Huang said, adding that it would invite partners to join Sogo City — her top priority for the time being.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
Call it an antidote to fast fashion: Japanese jeans hand-dyed with natural indigo and weaved on a clackety vintage loom, then sold at a premium to global denim connoisseurs. Unlike their mass-produced cousins, the tough garments crafted at the small Momotaro Jeans factory in southwest Japan are designed to be worn for decades, and come with a lifetime repair warranty. On site, Yoshiharu Okamoto gently dips cotton strings into a tub of deep blue liquid, which stains his hands and nails as he repeats the process. The cotton is imported from Zimbabwe, but the natural indigo they use is harvested in Japan —