East Japan Railway Co. will open the first overseas shopping mall of its station complex management arm Atre Co. in Taiwan next month to capitalize on its consumption-oriented lifestyle.
Atre said the mall will open in Taipei Nan Shan Plaza's Breeze Center on Jan. 10. Sixty percent of its 51 stores will represent Japanese brands.
Atre, a major subsidiary of the giant railway operator known as JR East, looked into market possibilities in the United States, Thailand and Malaysia before settling on Taiwan for its affinity with Japanese consumer trends, an Atre official told NNA.
"We have no specific targets or plans at this point on how many shopping malls we want to develop outside Japan," an Atre spokesman in Tokyo said.
Atre says it currently operates 29 shopping malls in Japan.