Word: marteli
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...open more?a lot of them. So do other "hypermarkets," giant retailers from Europe and America that are taking over some of Asia's prime selling grounds. Despite threats by governments to ban them, not to mention rocket attacks, chains, including France's Carrefour and U.S.-based Wal-Mart, are ramping up plans to open hundreds of new outlets throughout the region over the next several years. The onslaught threatens to run local retailers right out of business. Says Boonyoong Vimuttayon, a Bangkok grocery store owner who has seen her sales decline by more than half since a Tesco Lotus...
...their homelands by being brutally efficient, selling a mind-boggling range of products?from groceries to pharmaceuticals to clothes to big-screen TVs?at cut-rate prices. U.S.-based Costco operates spartan warehouses where bulk goods are stacked on pallets and sold to the public wholesale. The mammoth Wal-Mart chain?annual revenues of $218 billion made it the largest company on this year's FORTUNE 500 list?emphasizes customer service to bring in the crowds while keeping prices in check with high-tech inventory management?and by using its clout to cow suppliers. Charles Holley, senior vice president...
...That's not to say the foreigners are unstoppable. Both Wal-Mart and Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer, tried and failed to crack the Hong Kong market in the 1990s. Hong Kong consumers seemed to prefer familiar neighborhood chain stores. Carrefour lost $400 million between 1996 and 2000 on four Hong Kong outlets. "It all ended in tears, really," says Alan Treadgold, director of retail research for ad agency Leo Burnett Worldwide in Sydney. "They just couldn't make the format work...
...Undeterred, foreign hypermarkets have learned to adapt, often by forming joint ventures with domestic partners and by stocking local wares. "A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that when Wal-Mart comes to town, we set up exactly the same system as we do everywhere," says Holley of Wal-Mart. "But we take our best practices and customize it to each market." On Wal-Mart's shelves in China, for example, consumers can find indigenous delicacies such as whole roasted pigs and live frogs?hardly staples at corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas...
...Costco is not yet turning a profit on its Japanese operation, but still plans to build up to 70 stores there. Wal-Mart is edging into this market too, having recently taken a stake in ailing, 400-store food-and-clothing chain Seiyu. In fact, hypermarkets have aggressive expansion plans throughout Asia. Superstores face slowing growth in saturated home markets. They need to expand their territory to maintain growth rates. Wal-Mart intends to boost its international sales?now less than 20% of its total revenue?to a third of total revenue within five years. That means building new stores...