Photo taken on Sept. 19, 2019 shows a view of U.S. retail giant Costco Wholesale's first brick-and-mortar store in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)
U.S. retail giant Costco on Wednesday confirmed a plan to open a second store on Chinese mainland, which will be in Shanghai.
On Tuesday, the subsidiary of Costco, Pudong Warehouse Development Limited, together with a Chinese company, obtained a 47,319-square-meter lot in Shanghai's Pudong New Area for 898 million yuan (128 million U.S. dollars), which is not far from Shanghai Disney Resort.
Costco opened its first store in Chinese mainland last August in Shanghai's Minhang district on the west side of Huangpu River, which has attracted huge crowds of shoppers since the opening.
"With growing purchasing power, Chinese customers have adopted a more open and mature mindset toward consumption," said Richard Chang, senior vice president for Asia at Costco Wholesale, adding that Costco will further expand Chinese mainland market.
The maiden store now welcomes some 11,000 customers per day on average, less than some 16,000 on average per day before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia, also known as COVID-19.
Since the epidemic outbreak, the store has strengthened preventive measures including asking customers to wear facial masks before entry and cooperate with body temperature checking. The store has also shortened its business time for better disinfection.
"I found more health products and hygiene and preventive products inside the store. Daily necessities and groceries such as vegetables, fruits, meat and fast-cooked food are among the best sellers," said Liu Fang, a local customer.
