The State Bank of Vietnam has licensed South Korea’s Kookmin Bank to open a branch in Hanoi, the government said on Tuesday. The branch has a chartered capital of $35 million and the contract runs for 99 years, the government said in a statement.
South Korea is the largest source of foreign direct investment in Vietnam and the Southeast Asian country’s second largest trading partner.
Taiwanese dumpling chain Din Tai Fung has opened in Covent Garden, London. The new 8000sqft Din Tai Fung London eatery is the franchise’s 153rd globally, and is the first of at least two outlets planned for the city. A second store is planned for Centre Point next year.
The Din Tai Fung London store has been launched by Taster Food UK in partnership with Singapore-based BreadTalk Group.
BreadTalk Group CEO Henry Chu said: “The group will leverage on our experience of operating Din Tai Fung in Singapore and Thailand, and the strength of our overseas partners to continue the tradition of delivering an authentic Taiwanese dining experience to Londoners.”
Brand founder and chairman George Quek commented that there is potential to open 20 Din Tai Fung outlets in Britain, serving as a starting point for further expansion into Europe.
Din Tai Fung has already opened in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, the US and the UAE. It was recognised by the New York Times in 1993 as one of the world’s top 10 restaurants.
American footwear brand Steve Madden has opened its first store in Malaysia. The new location at Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur is the second Steve Madden store launched by the brand’s retail partner Valiram after the first opening in Takashimaya Singapore.
A statement from the brand that describes the new store’s aesthetic as “distilled urban” reads: “Making use of several materials, the intention is to stage the stars – shoes and accessories – in a way that allows each of them to tell their style story.”
Featured in store is the brand’s Holiday 2018 collection for women, as well as its signature rock-n-roll-inspired shoes and leather goods.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has signed an agreement with the Belgium government to launch an e-commerce trade hub, which will include investments in logistics infrastructure. The project is part of Alibaba’s Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), and Belgium is the first European country to join the project following similar agreements in Malaysia and Rwanda.
Alibaba’s logistics arm, Cainiao, will lease a 220,000 square meter logistics port at Belgium’s Liege airport as part of the deal and invest an initial 75 million euros ($85 million) in the project set to begin operations in 2021, it said.
“We strongly believe that under the eWTP, we will open up the huge potential for European businesses to reap the benefits of global cross-border trade, especially into the China market,” Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said in a statement.
Alibaba’s eWTP is designed to help countries reduce trade barriers for e-commerce trade, including lowering or eliminating tariffs and speeding up customs clearance.
The company has previously said the project is designed to “compliment” the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Alibaba is expanding the project to Europe amid wider trade tensions, which have forced the firm to back down from efforts to tap U.S. sellers.
Recently, Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma said previous plans to create a million jobs in the United States had been put on ice due to trade tensions, according to Chinese state media.
Swedish furniture group Ikea will build a US$1.2 billion, 430,000sqm shopping complex in Shanghai, to be completed by 2022. The new Ikea China centre will house an Ikea store and an additional 120,000sqm in retail area, hosting more than 300 businesses. It will also include 60,000sqm of office space.
The move represents the largest single investment the firm has made in one location, and is its sixth complex to be announced or built in China. It will be constructed near the Hongqiao airport as the Shanghai Linkong Project.
Ikea has completed three Livat-branded shopping centres in China, and has 26 stores across the country. Two other shopping center projects have been announced within the territory.
Chinese tea bakery Cheese Tea Bakery Nayuki has launched its first overseas store at VivoCity. The popular brand, credited as a forerunner in pairing fruit teas with soft European-style bread items, is offering a one-for-one promotion to celebrate the opening. A wave of similar businesses has emerged within China and throughout the region following the brand’s business model.
Cheese Tea Bakery Nayuki is entering the Singaporean market under a joint venture agreement with local bakery franchise BreadTalk Group.
Quantium Solutions, a leading end-to-end logistics service provider in Australia, has announced a partnership with The Healthy Chef, a company founded by internationally lauded chef, nutritionist and award-winning cookbook author Teresa Cutter. The partnership will help the Australian business expand its eCommerce presence in the Asia Pacific, and it is also the first in the Australian food industry for Quantium Solutions.
Owned by Singapore Post, Quantium Solutions is an established eCommerce logistics solutions provider in the Asia Pacific, operating in 19 markets, and handling every touch point of their partners’ supply chain process, from delivery to fulfilment. It enables major eCommerce companies – including some of the world’s largest fashion and beauty brands, and now, the Australian food industry – to expand their footprint globally.
Founder of The Healthy Chef, Teresa Cutter is one of Australia’s leading authorities on healthy cooking. She is also known internationally, having designed menus and recipes around the world for InterContinental Hotels Group, and publishing a weekly column for Time Magazine in the USA. Dedicated to improving the health of individuals, Teresa launched The Healthy Chef eCommerce site in 2012 to sell organic, wholefood nutritional products and her bestselling cookbooks to Australians and overseas customers. Since its launch, the eCommerce store has seen consistent year-on-year growth in its online orders.
The Healthy Chef enlisted Quantium Solutions to help the business take its popular products, such as Whey Protein Isolate and Organic Pea Protein, to more customers overseas. Quantium Solutions will handle its warehousing, packaging and delivery of orders across Australia, New Zealand and around the world.
Teresa Cutter, Founder of The Healthy Chef, said: “Our customers are our priority, so it’s important that they receive their order quickly and effectively. With Quantium Solutions an order can now take two to three days to reach our customers in the Asia Pacific. If there are any issues with deliveries, we can count on someone there to rectify the situation immediately. Having Quantium Solutions as part of our team is reassuring and enables us to expand with outstanding service.”
Per Gustafsson, Australia and New Zealand General Manager at Quantium Solutions, said: “We are very excited to have The Healthy Chef onboard as they are our first customer from the food industry. Having worked with major hotels around the world, Teresa has insights to the demands and buying power of overseas destinations. Also, Australia’s proximity to leading eCommerce markets like China, Singapore, and Southeast Asia, makes it ideal for Australian brands to take their products to larger and more lucrative markets. With a well-established network across the Asia Pacific, Quantium Solutions is able to help brands like The Healthy Chef expand overseas.”
High-end Italian label Bottega Veneta is launching a new flagship in Tokyo this Saturday. The six-storey store at Ginza Chuo-Ku is the brand’s largest in the Asia region, and features men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, leather goods, handbags, eyewear, footwear, fragrances, jewellery and home decor.
The store’s facade is composed of more than 900 metal panels similar to a motif featured on the brand’s handbag range, while the understated interior design matches Bottega Veneta’s furniture aesthetic.
The label’s GM Claus-Dietrich Lahrs said in a statement that the Japanese clientele is important and extremely loyal – adding that Japan is one of the world’s leading markets for Bottega Veneta.
U.S. brand Heron Preston which, as Vogue defines it, finds the interface of luxury and streetwear has arrived in Hong Kong. The New York-based designer announced on Instagram that his Hong Kong debut also served as Heron Preston’s first-ever storefront anywhere.
“I can’t believe I started hand printing t-shirts in San Francisco and now I’m here. I want to thank my amazing team for the love and support!” he said.
Located on Paterson Street, Fashion Walk, in the city’s Causeway Bay area, the new Heron Preston store was designed by the contemporary designer too.
Inside, Hong Kong shoppers are greeted by industrial interior fixtures such as steel shelving, painted wooden crates and licks of safety orange throughout.
An emerald green chair is set up in the centre of the shop next to the concrete sales counter. The light is bright and remainder of the store minimal in design, allowing the Heron Preston collections to speak.
Offering a full selection of the designer’s wares, clothes are displayed hanging from the racks, with accessories kept under the glass shelf of a table and hosted on shelves.
Marking the store opening, Heron Preston has teamed up with fellow American and sportswear heavyweight Nike for a limited edition eyewear collection.
Dubbed “Nike Tailwind HP Sunglasses”, the glasses are lightweight and wrap-around style, the frames mimicking the brand’s innovative rubber ventilation. The collection comes with interchangeable lenses too.
A standout piece is the Nike MAX Optics glass, which comes with an anti-fog Flying Lens setting.
The collection dropped worldwide November 29 and is available at Nike store and Heron Preston sales points.
The newest brand from Future Style Lab, Ancestry, which launched its maiden store in the capital city in May, has recently opened its first store in Kolkata, South City Mall. The brand, which presents a contemporary take on traditional Indian fashion and lifestyle, has earned many accolades in India’s fashion circles already and seems all geared up to woo Kolkatites too.
Ancestry is inspired by the evolving face of the new age Indian who is self-assured, professionally competent and curious to discover new paths. The brand’s offering, encompassing women’s apparel & accessories, home furnishings, and other lifestyle products, is constantly evolving and is in line with international trends, and yet interestingly rooted in Indian heritage and crafts.
With pricing that is perfectly suited to any urban Indian’s pockets, Ancestry’s unique collection of dresses, tops, and tunics are created completely using natural fabrics, thereby offering an unmatched quality and fashion sensibilities in that price range. This is one of the key reasons why the brand’s products have nearly flown off the shelves at its current stores in Delhi and Mumbai.
For the new store launch, Manjula Tiwari, CEO at Future Style Lab, the parent company of Ancestry, said, “Ancestry provides an unparalleled, modern-day experience of old-style Indian artistries, and we’re sure that the brand’s offering will find much love and appreciation with our consumers in Kolkata. We’re truly excited about launching this store, and are thankful to South City Mall for providing us with an impeccable space and opportunity, right in the heart of Kolkata.”
Ancestry’s tagline #StoriesRetold, perfectly sums up its ethos, for every line of products the brand comes up with tells the story of a particular craft or tradition, but in a way that is suited to the new-age lifestyle.
Online restaurant guide and food ordering firm Zomato on Friday said it is expanding food delivery services to 100 cities over the next week.
The company’s food delivery services are currently present across 93 cities and lists over 75,000 restaurants on the platform, Zomato said in a statement.
“… the food delivery business is ramping up really well with the growth in main markets, as well as the reception in tier II tier III cities,” Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO, Zomato said.
Founded by Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008, Zomato is a restaurant search and discovery platform providing in-depth information for over 1.4 million restaurants across 24 countries and serves more than 50 million users every month.
Thai restaurant concept The Lobster Lab has opened its first outlet in Shanghai.
The restaurant, operated by Bangkok-based Thai Union Group opened inside one of Alibaba’s Hema supermarkets last month. It serves lobster rolls, seafood chowder and some western dishes.
The concept is based on Thai Union’s King Oscar brand, a dine-in and takeout restaurant which serves fresh lobsters imported from the US and Canada to meet “the growing Chinese consumer’s demand for tasty and nutritious seafood”.
Thai Union also owns the American-style seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster and plans to open one of those stores inside IFC mall in Shanghai soon.
The Lobster Lab is part of Thammachart Seafood Retail, of which Thai Union owns 25 per cent.
Heritage toy store brand FAO Schwarz is headed for Beijing after relaunching in New York City. The original store, which featured in Hollywood movies such as Tom Hanks hit “Big”, closed its flagship near Central Park, unable to meet rising rental costs. Its current smaller location under new owners ThreeSixty stands to benefit from significant nostalgia for the old store amongst New Yorkers.
Beyond plans for China, ThreeSixty intends to open pop-ups in department stores both in the US and abroad.
It faces the same competition from e-commerce and discount chains like Walmart and Target that toppled toy empire Toys R Us earlier this year.
Chief merchandising officer David Niggli said the key to the new stores is experience.
Attractions include magic tricks, certificates to “adopt” a doll and a Build-a-Bear Workshop.
ASICS, a true sport performance brand, launched its first store in Kolkata thereby expanding its retail footprint in a bid to strengthen its presence in India. With the opening of the ASICS Kolkata store, the brand has taken a step forward to strengthen its presence in the east region. The new store is located conveniently in one of the finest malls of the city – South City Mall. The store will offer a wide range of running, training and core performance sports shoes, apparel and accessories for men and women.
The brand will accelerate its expansion of operations in India, bolstering sales and marketing support for retail stores in response to increasing consumer awareness of health and fitness and rise in spending power.
Speaking on the new launch, Rajat Khurana, Managing Director, ASICS India said, “Given the potential and growing demand for fitness and sports, India has emerged as an important market for ASICS. This year, our focus is to expand our footprint in both tier 1 and tier 2 cities and offer our best in class products ranging from running, sports, for gym and other fitness-related gear. Kolkata is a very key market for us considering the large audience for sports and fitness in this market. We are hopeful that our products designed keeping core performance in mind will be able to cater to the needs of sports and fitness lovers in the city.”
The store will showcase the latest ASICS AW18 collection that will host a range of key collections, like the newest additions to the ASICS running portfolio – ASICS Liteshow along with key products like Kayano 25 and Nimbus all featureing FLYTEFOAMTM, ASICS lightest-ever midsole technology. FLYTEFOAM works with the wearer’s foot to deliver superior cushioning every step of the way. It is also about 55 percent lighter than the industry standard midsole material, offering runners a comfortable fit with a fast, responsive feel.
Indian jewellery firm Malabar Gold & Diamonds is making plans to open 500 more outlets globally over the next five years – and Hong Kong is among the targets. The jeweller currently operates more than 250 outlets in 10 countries, 75 of which are in the Gulf region, including 12 in Qatar.
The firm’s immediate expansion plans are to open more branches in Malaysia in the coming months, where the group started operations last year.
Malabar Group chairman M P Ahammed said jewellery customers in Malaysia are showing enormous interest in the company’s ornaments and now the brand is gaining remarkably good acceptance in the country.
“As part of our expansion, we are also looking at markets such as Hong Kong where there is increasing activity at present. The Chinese are buying both gold and diamonds in large quantities unlike what they used to, say, some three decades ago.”
Speaking about the state of the business in general, Ahammed said: “From a modest beginning in Kozhikode in 1993, we have now expanded our operations even to the US, where our first outlet was opened earlier this year in Chicago.
“Wherever there are strong family traditions and customs, there is hope for expansion in this business. A husband may want to gift something precious to his wife on a memorable occasion, a mother to his daughter and a son to his mother. No wonder, the choice of everyone in such moments – of strengthening bonds – continues to be gold or diamond.’