Shirble gets rights to operate department stores in Dongguan

A total of GFA of approximately 17,600 sqm gives the company capacity to enhance operational efficiency and accelerates pace of development.

Shirble Department Store Holdings (China) Limited (“Shirble”), one of the largest department store chains in Shenzhen, announced that it has signed a transfer contract to acquire the operating rights of two department stores in Dongguan with a total GFA of 17,600 sqm at a cost of RMB29.0 million. Located at the intersection of Changfu pedestrian street shopping district in Dalang Town, one store is in three storeys with a GFA of approximately 10,000 sqm. The other five-storey store is at the intersection of Huancheng Road and Jiaoyu Road in Liaobu Town, and has a GFA of approximately 7,600 sqm.

The two Dongguan department stores acquired by Shirble are easily accessible within one of southeast China’s fastest-growing cities. Both are located in the core commercial districts and adjacent to luxury residential areas. The sites are popular among high spending shoppers. Dalang Town is located in the central southern part of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, with the Dongguan-Huizhou Highway crossing the town. Liaobu Town is located in the centre of Dongguan City and at the highway transportation hub of Dongguan City.

In recent years, Dongguan City has experienced fast economic expansion. According to a preliminary estimate1, the GDP of Dongguan in the first quarter of 2011 reached RMB98.234 billion. Based on comparable currency valuation, Dongguan grew by 10.8% year-on-year, higher than the 10.5% growth of Guangdong Province and the 9.7% figure for the whole country over the same period. The steadily rising income of Dongguan’s residents has strongly supported satisfactory growth of the consumer market.

In accelerating its development in second to third-tier cities, besides the two newly acquired stores, the Group is continuing to implement its original plan of opening one shopping mall and one department store within Humen with an area of approximately 60,000 sqm and 12,800 sqm respectively. The mall and department store are expected to be opened by the end of 2011, as mentioned in a Shirble report.

Mr Yang Xiangbo, Chairman of Shirble Department Store, said, “We are pleased to secure the operating rights of two more department stores with excellent potential in Dongguan City. Its strong consumption growth has been boosted by the prosperous economy in Dongguan City and synergies are expected to be created with other new Shirble Department Stores to be opened in Humen Town. Thus we expect to effectively control the costs and realise operational efficiencies. Looking ahead, we are seeking quality locations to enter new markets with strong potential to become the leading operator of department store chains in China.”