City’super plan to open more stores in mainland

Upmarket Hong Kong supermarket operator City’super says it is planning to expand on the mainland.

Currently the company has four supermarkets in Hong Kong and five in Shanghai. It opened its first store in Times Square in Causeway Bay in 1996 and its first in Shanghai’s IFC Mall in Pudong in 2010.

President Thomas Woo said that the company believes there is an opportunity to serve the increasing ranks of middle class Chinese consumers who are growing a taste for premium foods.

The company will initially focus on the Yangtze River Delta outside Shanghai.

Woo says mainlanders seem more ready to spend on items such as imported liquor than Hongkongers.

“We felt that the potential on the mainland has yet to be tapped by City’super,” he said. “We don’t aim to expand across the mainland, but we are setting eyes on the affluent region of East China.

“We felt that there is no wealth gap between mainland and Hong Kong shoppers. Chinese consumers’ attitude about life has become more exquisite as they pay more attention to food origins to ensure healthy eating.”