[Press Release]

(2nd  January  2004;  Taipei)  Fortress, Hong Kong's leading consumer electronics and home appliance retailer, introduces its revolutionary New Fortress retail concept store in Taiwan featuring a brand new 3C shopping experience. This New Fortress brand new store will be officially launched this coming Saturday (3rd of January) at Chungshiao shopping area in the very heart of Taipei.

Bringing New Fortress Success in Hong Kong to Taiwan

"This is not simply a store opening but the official launch of the "New Fortress" concept, which has been proven very successful in Hong Kong since June 2003. Through the introduction process of "New Fortress," we hope to bring customers in the greater Taipei area a brand new and world-class shopping experience." said Mr. Peter John Dove, Managing Director of Fortress.

New Fortress launched in Hong Kong in June last year providing New Perspective for shoppers. The revolutionary retail concept excited the market with contemporary image with fresh decor, trendy and spacious environment as well as unique new services. New Fortress involves new store relaunches and the upgrading of its existing stores outlets into 3 formats including "Fortress Digital", Fortress Vision" and "Fortress World". The launch of New Fortress in June is a great success. It does not only excite the whole consumer electronics market in Hong Kong but also help great increase on the relaunched Fortress stores.

Brand New Chungshiao Store Providing Breakthrough Shopping Experience

The New Fortress Chungshiao Store consists of Fortress Vision and Fortress Digital, creating an entirely brand new identity for New Fortress. The New Fortress is committed to give the consumers of Taiwan a whole new 3C shopping experience by providing a brand new design of shopping environment, professional consultation services, top-class choices of products, all-round audio-visual services including "Purchase to Play", wireless access and free trial and of course the "Pay the Difference" to guarantee the most competitive prices.

The New Fortress Chungshiao Store encompasses 140 pings of area in a two-story design. The products on display at the store include the latest, the most complete audio-visual and digital ones. The entire market value of the display product at the store is more than NT$20 million, setting a new record for the highest merchandise display value per square foot in Taiwan.

Joseph Lo, general manager of Fortress Chungshiao Store pointed out that the New Fortress Chungshiao Store includes the latest and trendiest home entertainment audio-visual products and in Taiwan, with near to 40 types of television sets, coming in all sizes and brands for the consumers to select from. With the launch of the New Fortress Chungshiao store, products such as the Panasonic 30-inch LCD TV and the Samsung DLP will also make their first debut in 3C channel in Fortress right after their recent launches.

The first storey of New Fortress Chungshiao Store will focus on popular digital products, such as the latest digital cameras, mobile phones and notebook computers. The products are from the world's top brands such as Sony, Fujitsu and NEC. Many series of the digital product, notebook computer, will be placed in different display area according to their category.

The second storey primarily comprises of audio-visual products. In addition to LCD TV, Plasma TV and CRT flat TVs, there is a theme areas consisting of 3 brands, namely Samsung, Philip and top-class HiFi product series. Entire fleet of such products on display for the consumers to choose from yields a revolutionary mode of business operation in 3C distribution. "Purchase-to-play service" provides professional consultant services. This New Fortress Chungshiao Store is the most resourceful and the most complete home entertainment 3C distributor ever to be seen in Taiwan.

Investment and Expansion in Taiwan

Peter J. Dove continues, "The new Chunghsiao E. Road store is our first step to showcase our dedication to the Taiwan market and our vision for Fortress. We have the latest models of a variety of high quality digital audio and video products, all with competitive pricing and the best service in town."

Along with the launch of the New Fortress Chungshiao Store, the accumulated retailing experience in Hong Kong as well as the advantage of the operation and purchasing power of the mother company, the AS Watson Group, are all vested into New Fortress Chungshaio Store. Fortress plans to have around 10 stores in the greater Taipei area by end of 2004.

New Shopping Experience at Chungshiao store with Big Savings

In fact, New Fortress Chungshiao Store is introducing a 24-month interest-free installment service for selected products at purchase of NT$10,000 or above with payment by any credit card and a 10-day money back guarantee for its products. In addition, the New Fortress Chungshaio Store is making a promise to consumers that its price is the lowest for the day of the sale in the entire island of Taiwan by offering "Pay the Difference" guarantee. All these services have completely revolutionized the shopping experience for Taiwan consumers and it also sets a new standard for the whole 3C retail market in Taiwan.

In coordination with the launch of the first brand new concept store, the New Fortress Chungshiao Store will also be introducing a time-limited "crazy sale" during weekends, where more than 200 products of the store will be discounted from regular retail price at each crazy sale session. It is estimated that at such sale, the products are worth at least NT$ 15 million with some products up to half price offering a total discount of at least NT$ 5 million. This particular activity will be held starting on the launching day of the store and be continued four times during two weekends. The activity will provide the latest digital and audio-visual 3C product at the most competitive price for consumers.

About Fortress

Founded in 1975, Fortress is a member of the AS Watson Group (ASW), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited. Today Fortress has grown to more than 60 retail outlets and employs over 1,000 staff. Over the past quarter-century, Fortress has earned the loyalty of Hong Kong consumers and has established a reputation for customer service, most recently winning the Specialty Stores Category of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association's 2002 Service & Courtesy Awards.

As the established industry leader, Fortress has dedicated itself to continuous innovation and bringing exciting new shopping experience to its customers. To this end, the New Fortress concept was rolled out in 2003. New Fortress is a vibrant and contemporary retail experience in the personal electronics and home appliances market. New Fortress encompasses the re-design of all Fortress outlets along three major store formats: Fortress World, Fortress Digital and Fortress Vision; each designed to exceed customer expectations and better serve the needs of Taiwan shoppers and visiting tourists

Fortress opened its first retail store in Taiwan back in 1998 and was also its first store outside Hong Kong. Currently there are five stores located nationwide in Nanking E. Rd Sec 4, Yun Ho, Tu Chen, Bun Chiao, and Tsien Chun.