JUSCO




JUSCO is an upscale supermarket chain from Japan. They sell groceries, clothing, toys, small electric appliances, personal care and house care items and many other interesting things.
In Shenzhen, China, JUSCO has the reputation of being the best supermarket chain. If you have shopped there and at Walmart, Carrefour, Park-n-Shop and Rainbow (the other popular supermarket chains), you will most likely agree that JUSCO offers a better service and better products.

Many things found at Jusco are very hard to find anywhere else. Often they have good deals, particularly considering that the quality of the products sold at Jusco is generally better than that of the stuff found in other convenience stores. Sometimes the price may be slightly more expensive, but it sure compensates with better quality, product freshness and improved service.

Jusco has 5 stores in Shenzhen. The largest and best known is at Citic City, next to Seibu and to the Ke Xue Guan subway station (now connected underground). However, most expatriates will probably shop at Jusco Coco Park because this store is conveniently located in a popular neighborhood among foreigners.

Their sushi display is quite interesting. They often have very good deals like "choose 5 sushi and pay 10rmb (US $1.4)", they sell inari (US $2.5 for 5 pieces), onigiri (US $0.4), temaki, sashimi, etc.

You can find Japanese furikake, miso paste, miso soup, umeboshi, ramen, udon, soba, tonkatsu sauce, kewpie salad dressing, curry rice, yakitori, yakisoba, tenpura, ebi tempura, sushi dressing, wasabi, katsobushi, etc. They also carry a very large selection of Lotte, Morinaga and other Japanese brands.

I also believe Jusco does a good job at promoting the culture of Japan. From my point of view and from what I have seen, they show things on the shelves that people use in their daily lives in Japan that nobody would buy here because they are simply quite expensive or simply differ completely from the local taste.

For example, in the sushi display, they sell onigiri. They often have 2 types. Both are however, quite simple. One is simply white rice and the other one is some kind of condimented rice mixed with small veggies. But who would buy onigiri? I have often seen elder ladies asking the clerks, "What is this, How do you eat it?". At the end of the day, they often have many onigiri unsold. But probably just the fact that people are asking what it is, is a lot.

Sometimes, they promote the sales of sake. People line up to taste the liquor for free.

Another item that you can find at Jusco is different kinds of natto. Natto 3-pack sells $1.20 usd.

Jusco also promotes the culture of other Asian countries by hosting culture events for different countries within Asia (Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, etc).

At the Coco Park store, there is a Hello Kitty stand, Panamie deli (cakes from Korea), Northwind shop (clothing and gadgets), eye-care shop and several restaurants like Sushi Itoh. If you are looking for game boards from the States like Monopoly (China edition), Life, Risk and Clue, they are all at Jusco. Walmart does not carry them (in fact, Walmart has a very poor toy selection).

If you have a pet and want to buy a litter box, Jusco has the closest thing to one.