Eslite Spectrum Chairwoman: Xinyi Store Lease Renewal Lies With President Chain Store

Eslite Spectrum Chairwoman Mercy Wu remarked on Friday (May 27) that the lease for the Xinyi Store will expire at the end of next year, to which she offered to renew it two years ago and even offered better terms than the market.

Speaking at the shareholders’ meeting of Eslite Spectrum Corp. (2926-TW), she stressed that the key to the ongoing effort is the final decision of the President Chain Store Corp.

The lease of the Eslite Xinyi Store will expire in December 2023, with a term of 18 years, which Wu described as “the biggest challenge for the team this year.”

Two years ago, everyone was nostalgic about the upcoming loss of the Dunnan Store, but I was concerned about the Xinyi Store, she explained. She made a “very good offer” to renew the lease in 2020, but the offer has been pending until now.

Wu pointed out that the landlords of the Xinyi Store are seven companies regrouped in the Tainan Gangli. Except for the main landlord, President Chain Store, all other independent landlords have supported the lease renewal.

According to the original contract, Wu said that the landlord would reply by mid-2023 whether to extend the lease, and President Chain Store Chairman Alex Lo promised in 2020 that he would respond by the end of that year, but Wu has not yet received a reply.

Wu said that Eslite Spectrum had known about the Dunnan Store (4,000 pings) three years before the lease expired, and the Xinyi Store is now a year and a half away from the lease expiration.

The Xinyi Store has 14,000 pings, with annual visitors totaling more than 12 million people and stakeholders involving thousands of publishers and several hundred counter manufacturers.

Wu stressed that the Xinyi Store is not only a cultural highlight for the city. Before the pandemic, the store was profitable, and Wu believes that the Eslite Xinyi Store can continue to operate, so she will continue to work hard for it.