Taiwan's Carrefour Rebrands to "Prosperity Plaza," Recalling 1990s "Wan Jia Fu" Chain

Carrefour's 62 hypermarkets across Taiwan are undergoing a name change to "Prosperity Plaza" (萬家福), a move that has stirred nostalgia among residents, particularly in Taichung and Fengyuan. The new name directly recalls the "Wan Jia Fu" (萬家福) hypermarket chain, a local brand that operated in Taiwan 33 years ago, with some locations like Fengyuan and Taiping being prominent.

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Wan Jia Fu feels familiar but I can't quite recall it. Then one day my husband said: 'Isn't that the hypermarket next to the steakhouse?' 'Wan Jia Fu, the memory of Fengyuan people is back.'

One Taichung resident shared a preserved "Wan Jia Fu" shopping bag from 1993, remarking on the familiar yet elusive memory of the store. The resident recalled the hypermarket, which was located near a steakhouse in Fengyuan, as a significant part of local memory. The "Wan Jia Fu" brand, originally established as "Xin Dihua Street Superstore" in 1991, was renamed in 1993 and at its peak operated 10 stores across Taiwan.

Interestingly, the "Wan Jia Fu" store in Taiping was sold to Carrefour 18 years ago, only for the brand to now re-emerge under the same name. The rebranding also includes Carrefour's supermarkets, which will be renamed "Le Jia Kang" (樂家康). The company, Konda Sheng Tong, is in the process of updating signage and corporate identity across all its 62 hypermarkets and 221 supermarket locations.

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Wan Jia Fu was a local brand, founded in 1991 as 'Xin Dihua Street Superstore,' renamed Wan Jia Fu in 1993. At its peak, there were 10 stores nationwide. The Fengyuan store in Taichung was located next to the 'Wilderness Cowboy Steakhouse,' and the Taiping store was at the current Carrefour location. Interestingly, the Taiping Wan Jia Fu was sold to Carrefour 18 years ago, and today it's renamed Wan Jia Fu again.

Adding a layer to the brand's history, the Fengyuan "Wan Jia Fu" hypermarket was the site of Taiwan's first-ever ATM robbery in April 2006. Thieves managed to steal an entire ATM machine containing NT$658,000, despite the store being located only about 500 meters from the Fengyuan police precinct. This historical event adds a dramatic footnote to the return of the "Wan Jia Fu" name.

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The Fengyuan Wan Jia Fu once experienced Taiwan's first hypermarket ATM robbery. In April 2006, thieves stole the entire ATM machine from the Wan Jia Fu hypermarket in Fengyuan City, Taichung County. The machine contained NT$658,000 in cash. The hypermarket was only about 500 meters from the Fengyuan Police Precinct, yet the entire ATM disappeared.