ABSTRACT
The Beijing Wangfujing Department Store is a large commercial enterprise well-known in China, and is also famous as one of the world’s largest retail stores ( Figure 5.1 ). It has a staff of about 4,300 and the gross floor area measures 41,185 square meters of which 17,894 square meters are used for operating space. There are 72,000 items on sale, and the circulation of customers averages over 100,000 per day. In terms of sales volume, the Wangfujing Department Store is the fourth largest commercial enterprise in China, with a turnover of 1.8 billion yuan in 1995. This high sales volume makes the Emporium the greatest profit-making retail sales enterprise in China, with a profit of 120 million yuan in 1995 ( Zhongguo shangbao 1996). Forty years have passed since its establishment, and during this period of time its accumulated sales volume has reached 12 billion yuan. Its tax on profits has reached 1.12 billion yuan which is enough to build 248 new Wangfujing Department Stores! About 1.7 billion customers, both Chinese and foreign, have been received by the Emporium since its founding, which is about 1.4 times the population of China (Beijing Wangfujing Department Store (Group) Ltd. 1995:12). In the numerous customer surveys conducted, the Wangfujing Department Store is considered by consumers to be the best commercial enterprise in China according to an integrated index which takes into consideration factors such as corporate image and customer loyalty. The Emporium is a pearl illuminating retail business in China. Outdoor scene of Wangfujing Department Store. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315026329/c49540c3-43fc-4f8d-9e45-4f7d9dc59fcd/content/fig5_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
