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Celine Sun

Sincere, the city's oldest Chinese department store, is set to open an  outlet in a Tsuen Wan shopping centre this year, its first expansion in the past 13 years.
The Sincere Co signed an eight-year lease with Sino Group yesterday to open a 40,000 square foot department store on the ground floor of CityWalk 2, a large-scale shopping centre at 18 Yeung Uk Road, Tsuen Wan. 
The new shop, its first in the New Territories, is expected to open in the third quarter. Sincere has three outlets in Central, Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po.
Brandy Yu, director of operations of Sincere, said the 'ideal location' was the main reason for them to choose the place.
CityWalk 2 is connected through footbridges with the neighbouring L'Hotel Nina et Convention Centre,  which mainly accommodates mainland tourists.
Yu expected 20 per cent to 30 per cent of customers in the new  store would come from across the border, which is higher than the 10 per cent to 20 per cent level at its other outlets.
'We would not rule out the possibility of opening more shops in future,' Yu said. 
The department store chain, which is to celebrate its 110th anniversary this year, sources more than 50 per cent of its goods, such as apparel, accessories and skin-care products, from Europe. It also sells branded goods at consignment counters.
Sincere opened its first store in Central and at its peak operated 10 branches in Hong Kong. Its last expansion was in 1997 when it opened a 30,000 sqft store in Grand Century Place in Mong Kok.
However, the traditional department store was hit by the sluggish economy and cut-throat competition in the retail industry. It closed three shops - Kowloon City, Lee  Theatre Plaza in Causeway Bay and Argyle Street - between 2000 and 2003. Of its remaining three stores, the one in Central is the largest with about 60,000 sqft while the Mong Kok shop is the smallest.
'We understand the competition is keener than before, but we are still confident about our solid customer base,' Yu said.
Despite a well-established reputation among Hong Kong people, Sincere has benefited less from cash-rich mainland shoppers in recent years compared with many of the city's shopping centres.
To attract more mainlanders, it plans to introduce more high-end brands and adjust its product mix to cater to young customers in Tsuen Wan.
Opened last year, CityWalk 2 is the second phase of CityWalk, another shopping centre developed by Sino Group, with a total floor area of 200,000 sqft.
Ann Wong, general manager of leasing with Sino Real Estate Agency, said she expected the Sincere store, the biggest tenant at CityWalk 2, would bring a 20 per cent increase in the traffic, based on the shopping centre's  50,000 daily customers.



Sincere to open fourth outlet in Tsuen Wan