PX Mart is a

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

chain in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. As of October 2021, PX Mart operates 1,056 stores across the island, making it the largest supermarket chain in Taiwan and the second largest retailer by revenue behind

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...

. The

corporate headquarters Corporate headquarters is the part of a corporate structure that deals with important tasks such as strategic planning, corporate communications, taxes, law, books of record, marketing, finance, human resources, and information technology. Corpor ...

is located in Zhongshan District,

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

History

In 1974, the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

founded the ''Jūngōngjiào Fúlì Zhōngxīn'' (軍公教福利中心), a supermarket with cheaper prices and no

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

whose access is restricted to military, civil servants, and educators. In 1989, the supermarket was reorganized to create ''Quánliánshè'' (全聯社) that catered to civil servants and educators; the military maintained its own supermarket, which still exists to this day. In 1998, several executives were found to have

embezzle Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

d money. Nine people were charged, but were all eventually found not guilty. During the controversy, the company was

privatized Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

and headed by Lin Ming-Hsiung, founder of Yuanlih Construction (元利建設); its 66 stores were rebranded as PX Mart and were opened to the public. Under new leadership, Lin aggressively increased their market share through

mergers Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

with other chains, acquiring Yanglianshe (楊聯社) in 2004, the stores in Taiwan owned by the Japanese chain in 2006, and the stores operated by in 2007. The supermarket operated as a

discount store A discount store or discounter offers a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down cost ...

and kept consumer prices down through unconventional strategies, such as opening smaller stores in discreet locations or outside urban areas, and not accepting card payments to avoid processing fees. In 2006, PX Mart launched its long-running advertising campaign known as "Mister PX Mart" (全聯先生), which features a man in a deadpan voice describing the chain's lack of extra services to achieve low prices. In 2012, PX Mart surpassed

Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, which ...

as the largest supermarket chain in Taiwan. The same year, PX Mart opened two

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

s in Guanyin, Taoyuan and Gangshan, Kaohsiung, and became the first overseas member of the . In 2013, PX Mart reversed its cash-only policy by allowing card payments from

CTBC Bank CTBC Bank () is amongst the largest privately owned banks in Taiwan. History It was established in 1966 under the name China Securities and Investment Corporation. In 1971, its name was changed to Chinatrust Investment Company Limited. In 1992, i ...

. PX Mart then acquired two more supermarket chains: in 2014, and

Matsusei Sung Ching Commercial Co., Ltd (), doing business as Matsusei Supermarket () was a grocery store chain in Taiwan. The company head office was in Xizhi District, New Taipei City. As of 2004, Matsusei had 80 stores. On Saturday May 22, 2004 it opene ...

in 2015. In 2021, PX Mart announced its acquisition of the

hypermarket A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...

chain

RT-Mart RT-MART International Ltd. (), trading as RT-Mart (), is a hypermarket chain in Taiwan. Its headquarters is in Neihu District, Taipei. The company opened its 23rd store in 2004. RT-Mart and Auchan created a joint venture, Sun Art Retail Group ...

; the deal is awaiting regulatory approval.

Operations

PX Mart operates three

s, located in Guanyin, Taoyuan;

Wuqi, Taichung Wuqi District () is a coastal suburban district in southern Taichung, Taiwan. The Port of Taichung is located in Wuqi District. History After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, Wuqi was organized as an urban to ...

; and Gangshan, Kaohsiung.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Supermarkets in Taiwan Companies based in Taipei Retail companies of Taiwan Supermarkets of Taiwan Taiwanese companies established in 1998 Retail companies established in 1998

History

Operations

Notes

See also

References

External links