British department store Harrods will open a location in Shanghai.
According to Retail Gazette, the store will be the brand’s first standalone site outside the UK and will target China’s growing middle class.
“If you look at all of the reports, they say, quite categorically that all of the growth in the next five years is going to come from Southeast Asia. And is going to come from millennials,” said Harrods MD Michael Ward. “So we’ve got to go after that. It’s very important that you follow the money. We see continued growth of China, but we see a need to be a more permanent resident in China.”
Harrods has been making investments in China for a decade, and will launch in the Pudong area in response to strong consumer demand. The store will serve private shoppers targeting the high-end market.