Yata Limited, a Japanese-lifestyle department store, will open a HK$27 million supermarket in East Kowloon on Sunday, the first investment by the Hong Kong company outside the New Territories.
The retailer, owned by Sun Hung Kai Properties, is planning the expansion after demand for Japanese food recovered following fears of radioactive contamination after March's Japanese earthquake.
The new store will be in San Po Kong, an old industrial area.
The site may seem strange for a mid-to-premium-priced supermarket, as average monthly income is only about HK$10,000 in the district. The company, however, expects a longer payback period for the new store, said Daniel Chong Wai-chung, managing director of Yata.
The 1,100 households in a newly completed residential project near the supermarket will be one of its main sources of customers. 'We are investing in the future,' Chong said. Yata is pinning hopes on government buildings under construction nearby to bring in more customers. Until then, they will rely on the 200,000 working population and pupils from the dozens of schools in the area.
He added that Yata was also finalising plans for another supermarket in a northern part of the city.