ParknShop opened a megastore yesterday containing a zone in which all goods are priced at $8, in a move that could set off a war with existing $10 bargain stores.
The one-stop shop is in the chain's first Hong Kong megastore, which covers 72,000 sq ft in the Metro City complex in Tseung Kwan O.
Iwan Evans, chief executive officer of the Retail Food Division of the A. S. Watson Group, which operates ParknShop, said the $8 zone featured 1,000 Japanese-style items ranging from cooking utensils to skin-care products.
Spokeswoman Teresa Pang said: 'Because consumers have nowadays become smarter in shopping, our new store has an $8 budget-shopping zone to allow them to enjoy more savings while buying our money's-worth products.'
She said the supermarket had no plans to open another megastore but would first observe the market's response to the new launch.
Chung Kim-wah, assistant professor of applied social science at Polytechnic University, warned that the entry of ParknShop and Jusco - which opened its flagship '$10 Plaza' store in Causeway Bay last month - could kill off the existing $10 stores.