The Giordano Group is taking advantage of the recent retrenchment of a competitor to pick up a number of retail locations for its Bluestar brand in Taiwan. The Group targets to take up about 20 additional outlets by the end of summer, increasing its Bluestar network in Taiwan by over one-third to about 80 locations.

“Trading conditions in Taiwan have been deteriorating steadily since the second half of 2005, and the first half of 2006 has been especially challenging for retailers with stagnant household income growth and the credit card debt crisis. This has forced some of our weaker competitors to retrench their operations. On the other hand, we have always been something of a contrarian when it comes to our strategic thinking and we view this as a good opportunity to invest for growth,” remarked Charles Fung Wing Cheong, General Manager of the Giordano Group’s Taiwan operations.

“So far we have managed to confirm nine locations and our target is to take up a total of about 20 locations by the end of summer, thus expanding our Bluestar network by over a third in one fell swoop. The exercise will help us significantly improve our coverage and put us in a much stronger competitive position when we launch our Fall/Winter collection,”added Mr. Fung.

At present the Bluestar network in Taiwan consists of 57 locations and the Group expects the network to grow to about 80 locations after taking up the additional locations. The exercise is expected to involve HKD10 million in additional capital expenditure in 2006 should Bluestar take up 20 locations as targeted. As a result, Bluestar's annual turnover in Taiwan is targeted to achieve double-digit growth in 2007.

Giordano International Limited is a leading international retailer of men’s, women’s and children’s apparel under the brand names “Giordano”, “Giordano Ladies”, “Giordano Junior” and “Bluestar”. Established in 1981, Giordano International now operates 1,700 stores and counters in Greater China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, India and the Middle East.