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For immediate release
[Hong Kong, 10th March 2005] GS-Watsons, a 50:50 joint venture between the A.S. Watson Group ("ASW") and GS Retail (formally LG Mart), announces the opening of its first Watsons Your Personal Store ("Watsons") near Hong-Ik University (address 162-8, Dongkyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul) on 3rd March. This new store officially signifies the entrance of Asia's No.1 health and beauty retail brand into the Korean market.
Following the soft opening on 3rd March, GS-Watsons will hold an official ribbon cutting ceremony tomorrow (11th March). To celebrate the grand opening of their JV's first Watsons store in Korea, Mr. Ian Wade, Group Managing Director of AS Watson and Mr. Seung-Jo Hur, President of GS Retail will attend as the officiating guests.
De-merged from LG Group in July 2004 and following the recent acquisition of Kolon Mart stores, GS Retail, is expected to continue to strengthen its position as a multi-format retailer in Korea with this latest addition of health and beauty retail business alongside its hypermarket, supermarket, convenience store, and department store businesses.
The Watsons Hong-Ik University store, with a store size of about 60 pyong (1,900 sq ft), offers over 7,000 items composed of a diverse health and beauty range including skin care, hair care, cosmetics, and functional health foods.
Bannered as "Watsons", the new store is targeting at young females and the retail concept has a vivid presentation in terms of category segmentation, product display and brand selections. With its proven popularity among female customers in many other markets, Watsons is inspired to adapt to local consumers' needs and bring the most updated brands and beauty solutions to Korean females.
GS-Watsons, the JV which operates Watsons stores in Korea, plans to expand its store network in Korea in a stable and speedy manner by combining GS Retail's distribution & logistics network, information systems and site development know-how, with ASW's cost-effective store operating know-how and international sourcing capabilities accumulated through their years of global health & beauty retail operations.
Following their first store opening, Watsons is planning to open over 10 stores each year and this store roll out is expected to accelerate as more stores are opened each year.
About Watsons Your Personal Store
Watsons Your Personal Store (Watsons) is the largest health and beauty retail chain in Asia operating over 980 stores in 10 markets - Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Turkey and Korea.
Watsons is the flagship health and beauty operation of the A.S. Watson Group (ASW), a wholly owned retail and manufacturing subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited. With operations in 21 markets, ASW operates 14 retail brands, over 4,800 stores spanning from health & beauty chains to its food, electronics & general merchandise, and airport retail divisions.
Also an established player in the beverage industry, ASW provides a full range of beverages from bottled water, fruit juices, soft drinks and tea products to the world's finest wine labels via its international wine wholesaling and distribution. ASW employs over 64,000 people and in 2003, its reported turnover was HKD 63,086 million (approx. US 8,088 million).
For media enquiries, please contact:
A.S. Watson Group
ANNA LO
Tel: +852 3521 6226
Fax: +852 2608 8409
E-mail: AnnaL@asw.com.hk
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