With an investment of USD30 million from Lotte Group, construction of the new supermarket will start in April 2009 and is expected to be completed and opened on October 1, 2010. Covering an area of 36,000 square meters, the supermarket will focus on the sales of apparel, footwear, food, and home appliances. After the project is putting into operation, it is expected to realize annual sales of CNY400 million.

The coming of Lotte Mart will further add to the commercial functions of Weihai Economic and Technical Development Zone, which will benefit the creation of a business cluster in Weihai and will stimulate the development of service industry in the city.

Lotte Group currently owns 58 Lotte Marts in South Korea and with the implementation of its globalization strategy, the group plans to set up 300 Lotte Marts in China by 2018.

After rated among the world’s top 250 retailers in 2008, Chinese retailers, including Gome, Bailian Group, Suning, and Dashang, were again entered on the list this year, with their average ratings up 71 places.

Published by one of the world’s largest accounting firms Deloitte and the authoritative U.S. retail magazine Stores, the list provided the 2009 edition of the top 250 retailers in the world. According to the list, the worldwide retail industry was affected by the global financial crisis, with the impact on the United States, Britain, and Japan being the most obvious. But retail markets in Russia, South Korea, and China still had good performances, with two Russian retailers and four Chinese retailers climbing rapidly in the list.

Statistics showed that four Chinese retailers were included in the top 250 retailers in 2008. Apart from the Shanghai-based Bailian Group which sat at the 101 place, the other three, Gome, Suning, and Dalian Dashang Group, were all out of the top 200.

In the 2009 edition, Chinese electronics retailer Gome was up 155 places from 218th to the 63rd; Chinese electronics retailer Suning up 63 places from 216th to 152nd; Shanghai Bailian Group up 10 places to the 91st; and Dalian Dashang Group up 57 places to 167th.

In addition, the U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart still held the first place in the list, followed by French Carrefour, and the in third to the fifth places were Tesco from Britain, Metro from Germany, and Home Depot from the United States.