TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Far Eastern's Garden City will have a soft opening on Saturday for Zone B, completing the department store complex attached to Taipei Dome.
Local media toured the 13,333-square-meter retail space, also known as Monet Garden, on Tuesday. Other zones within the department store, such as a gourmet restaurant hall and a cinema, are already open to the public, per CNA.
Far Eastern Sogo Sales General Manager Cindy Wu (吳素吟) said Garden City faces strong competition from department stores in Taipei's Xinyi and Eastern districts. She hoped the complex would become a new Taipei landmark by combining large open spaces, major retail brands, and diverse dining options.
Wu said new shopping malls need to provide distinctive features and experiences that set them apart from existing department stores. From initial planning, she said Garden City did not follow the traditional model of maximizing retail space, with public areas accounting for about 55% of Zone B, including an eighth-floor tea garden reserved as a rest area.
Wu said food and beverage offerings are also expected to be a major source of revenue for Garden City. She said food and beverage typically accounts for about 15% to 20% of revenue at Sogo's existing department stores, while Garden City is expected to reach about 30%, per CNA.
She said safety and fire prevention have also been major challenges because of its interconnection with the Taipei Dome, which can accommodate about 40,000 people a day during events and concerts. The mall has multiple entrances connecting to outdoor areas and underground spaces, requiring additional security personnel, Wu said.
Garden City's security staff is at least three times that of a typical department store. Furthermore, the approval process involving public safety and fire authorities took at least twice as long as it would for a conventional mall, she said.
Far Eastern signed an agreement with Taipei Dome to operate Garden City in June 2022, with intensive preparations beginning the following year. With the opening of Zone B, Far Eastern will complete the planned complex, which features more than 560 brands.
