Customers turning up at the Wellcome “superstore” in Sai Kung today were met by a steel shutter and a notice saying, Bye-bye. The notice said you’ve got two choices: Go to the tiny Wellcome at Lakeside Gardens or use Wellcome Delivers. There was no mention of whether the “superstore” will return once new premises are found.
This woman’s reaction rather sums it all up
Earlier BUZZ stories have reported the location changed hands and the new owner promised it to ParknShop. The latter is an impenetrable bureaucracy that does not answer press enquiries.
Coincidentally or not, the Schmidt Vinothek store next to what was the Wellcome entrance has closed too. Does this mean the new ParknShop will have a better entrance? Including escalators?
These two companies have a nearly monopolistic position in the HK market, and fail to see why they should be responsive to customers or the media. Where my office is located there was a Wellcome store serving a big residential estate. It closed with absolutely no notice whatsoever, leaving many families on the estate greatly inconvenienced in the short-term; no attempt was made to provide any warning. That’s how these supermarkets operate.
I hope that U-Select gets more custom as a result of this, and then feels confident enough to open a bigger supermarket in Sai Kung. It’s likely that Wellcome will simply be replaced by one of the more expensive versions of PnS such as Fusion.