Background of Watson

WATSON'S BACKGROUND 

A.S. Watson & Co Ltd is a subsidiary of Hutchison Wbarnpoa Limited and is one of the best

known trading names in Asia. The company began as a small dispensary in Guangzhou, China in 1828, opened in Hong Kong in 1841, and became one of the first companies in the world to produce carbonated soft drinks. By the turn of the century, A.S. Watson had became a major trading force in Hong Kong, China, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand with more than 300 retailing and dispensing branches. In Taiwan, the group has a major chain of 145 drugstores. The 90 stores in Singapore and Malaysia are expected to increase steadily by about 15 per year, while the number of stores in Thailand will grow to 25 in the near future.

In China, A.S. Watson operated in excess of 90 outlets, the largest chain of foreign owned stores in the mainland. This is expected to grow at the rate of 40 to 50 stores a year and to provide profitable returns within the decade. Watson's is the original personal care retailer with more than 150 years of retail experience in the region, with over 300 stores throughout Asia. Watson's regularly carry more than 25,000 items sourced from over 20 countries, including its own label that is GIANETTO. These imported items contributed most to the total profits of Watson's. 

GlANETTO can be divided m SIX major product groups:-

* Personal Care

* Lifestyle

* Beautiful You

* Sweet Expressions

* Health and Fitness

* Fun and Games

The store count has doubled in the last 4 years and is poised to exceed 500 stores by the year 2000. Today over 10 millions shoppers visit Watson's each month in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Macao, China, Hong Kong and Thailand. The store range in size from 2,000 to 12,000 sq. ft. with the ideal size being 5,000 sq.ft.

WATSON'S MISSION

Attain and subsequently maintain leadership position in the health, beauty and fashion stores sector through:

a) building a reputation for excellence in meeting customer needs

b) generating continuous profit growth

c) believe in, create and maintain virtuous circles