This week will experience the huge opening of two new department stores in Taipei City, which will provide different products to woo Chinese as well as local shoppers plus bring even more strong competition to the island’s robust retail industry.

Meanwhile, both the department stores are Momo, part of the Fubon financial company, and Hankyu, part of food giant Uni-President. Both the new departments will open respectively on Wednesday and Thursday.

In 2009, Fubon acquired the former Asia World building, the well-known architecture at the intersection of Nanjing East and Dunhua North Roads, for around NT$10 billion and has turned it into a 3,000-ping shopping place, with 1,000 pings of the total reserved for food as well as beverage service.

While talking to media, the president of Fubon Multimedia Technology Co, Lin Chin-feng said, “The department store will target some 80,000 nearby office workers between 25 and 40 years of age, as well as Chinese visitors staying at Sunworld Dynasty Hotel next door.”

However, the store will provide “high-quality yet inexpensive” goods, most of which are also placed on Fubon’s Momo shopping network.

Mr. Lin said, “I expects annual sales to reach NT$1.2 billion, translating into NT$100 million each month.”