Consumer China

Urban uber-shoppers

  • Published 05 Mar 2009

While a number of retail outlets in the UK and US have been brought to a standstill by the financial crisis, the picture in urban China is looking quite different.

The credit crunch has claimed no shortage of retail casualties in the west. Woolworths, Circuit City and Zavvi, to name a few in the US and UK, have all succumbed. Meanwhile in urban China, the picture looks quite different. Major Chinese retailer Bailian Group opened a further 232 stores in Shanghai in 2008. McDonald’s plans to open another 175 outlets across the country this year. Louis Vuitton recently launched a flagship store in the inland city of Taiyuan. And Swedish clothes retailer, Hennes & Mauritz, will debut its speciality store in Beijing this spring. All of them are optimistic of the growth potential offered by China’s urban consumers.

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