BARSTOW - A delegation from the city of Yiwu toured the Barstow Outlets and met with Mayor Lawrence Dale and other public figures on Monday. The delegation expressed interest in developing a relationship between Yiwu and Barstow to sell Yiwu-made goods at the Barstow Outlets.
"I think the factory outlets have many similarities with our market," Xu Zhijian said.
Xu is an advisor for the government of Yiwu. Speaking through a translator, he said the market in Yiwu consists of retail and wholesale shops and is the largest market in the world.
"They want to explore the American market," he said. "I think Barstow Outlets gives them the opportunity to expand."
Barstow's location between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, the amount of traffic coming in and out of Barstow and Barstow's easy access to rail and truck transportation make it a good site for business, Xu said. He added, though, that Barstow noticed Yiwu first.
Earlier this year, Dale and the Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager Ron Rector visited Yiwu, southwest of Shanghai, to see the city's large market. Dale said the market in Yiwu had many shops about the size of his office selling purses, shoes, watches and many other products. Most of the products were made in Yiwu and would be available for wholesale and retail markets.
Dale said merchants from Yiwu's market could enhance the economic side of Barstow's shopping sector and help fill Barstow Outlets' vacant spaces. Current negotiations between Yiwu's merchants, the governments of China and the United States, and the owners of Barstow Outlets would allow individual merchants to come to Barstow.
Staff photo by Aaron Aupperlee
City Manager Hector Rodriguez gives Xu Zhijian (back) a virtual tour of Barstow on the large map in the City Council Chambers. Geoffrey Wu (front) translates.
Sabrina Bernal, the on-site manager of Barstow Outlets, said Trans-Asia, "a middle man" in the deal, is considering using approximately 37,000 square feet of Barstow Outlets' space for Yiwu merchants. She said she could not comment on the impact the merchants would have on Barstow Outlets because she was not sure whether the merchants would be wholesale or retail.
Shoppers could buy single items from retail shops. Wholesale merchants would sell their goods by the hundreds to interested parties.
Xu said the deal with Barstow Outlets is promising. The delegation would go back to Yiwu, he said, and tell the merchants what they saw in Barstow.
Dale also said the city would have to wait and see what comes out of Monday's visit but was optimistic.
"I think when they left us today, they were most impressed with the growth that's going on in Barstow," he said.
source:http://www.diy-fashion.com/blog
