Content about Beijing

Beijing -- Starbucks Coffee Co. advanced its growth plans in China with the opening of its 100th store in Beijing. The company also announced the launch of Starbucks China University, its talent development program.

Starbucks has announced that China will be its second largest market by 2014 and will have 1,500 stores by 2015 across more than 70 cities. It currently operates 700 locations throughout Mainland China.”

Beijing -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday that it plans to open 100 stores in China by 2015, a slowed pace from prior growth rates in the country but still representing ongoing interest in boosting its market share behind the country’s No. 1 player Sun Art Retail Group.

Li Ning, one of China’s largest marketers of sports apparel, footwear and equipment, has opened a flagship in Beijing with a bold design that  uses the theme of motion to attract and engage shoppers. A strong angular grid pattern is present throughout the store — in the ceilings, lighting and floor pattern — that creates an impression of non-stop movement. The theme is most visible on the sweeping lines of the four-story façade, which features a massive banner with changeable imagery.

Hong Kong -- Taubman Asia confirmed a joint venture agreement between Taubman TCBL and Beijing Wangfujing Department Store (Group) Co., Ltd (Wangfujing), one of China's largest department store chains.
 
The joint venture will own a controlling interest in and manage a shopping center to be located at Xi'an Saigao City Plaza, a large-scale mixed-use development in Xi'an, China, which is developed by Shaanxi Fuli Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. This is the first retail development by Taubman TCBL in China since the company was formed in late 2011.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us opened its first stores in Beijing last weekend, marking its continued expansion across China.

New York City -- Forever 21 signed an agreement Tuesday to open a flagship in Beijing, China, one part of a plan by the fast-fashion retailer to expand into the world’s largest emerging consumer market, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles-based chain will open a 24,000-sq-.ft. store in a multi-story mall located in Beijing’s central shopping district, Wangfujing, with additional stores set to open in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the report said.

Beijing -- The Xinhua News Agency in Beijing, China, said that Wal-Mart Stores has reopened 13 stores in Chongqing after being forced by authorities to close the stores for 15 days over the mislabeling of regular pork as organic.

Chongqing authorities had also arrested two employees and fined the company $421,000 on charges of passing off regular pork as higher-priced organic meat earlier in October.

Bloomfield Hills, Mich. -- Shopping center owner Taubman Centers reported Monday that its Taubman Asia division will acquire 90% controlling interest in TCBL Consulting Limited, a Beijing-based retail real estate consultancy with seven offices in mainland China.

New York City -- The Home Depot  has closed its last store in Beijing, highlighting the difficulties that some western companies face when trying to transplant foreign business models into China.

Home Depot, which has closed five stores on the mainland in the past two years, is struggling to find the right business format for one of the world’s most difficult home-improvement markets, local analysts said.

Beijing -- China said Wednesday it is fining Wal-Mart and Carrefour stores up to $75,900 for overpricing, expressing concerns about price inflation ahead of the impending Lunar New Year holiday.

A statement posted Wednesday on the National Development and Reform Commission website listed about a dozen stores across the country that engaged in overpricing, noting high charges on items ranging from underwear to dumpling powder.

Baltimore -- Planning, architecture, graphics and design firm Development Design Group said Monday it has been awarded the position of planner and design architect for the retail centerpiece of the landmark Tianjin City Culture Center Development, soon to become the largest mall in China.