China's Dalian Wanda to close karaoke bars, stores as consumers turn frugal

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Dalian Wanda Group said it was closing down the country's largest karaoke chain Superstar, as slowing economic growth and government efforts to discourage lavish spending hit profits in the entertainment sector. The group also said it was closing an unspecified number of department stores as a boom in e-commerce drove that business into losses. Media reports had said China's largest property developer was shutting down nearly half of its 90 stores. "China's consumer behavior is undergoing significant changes, inevitably hurting some large-scale retailers," Qu Dejun, president of Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co, a unit of Dalian Wanda Group, said in a statement. Speaking about the karaoke business, Qu said profits had become very thin due to "related national policy". He did not specify, but karaoke parlors were popular entertainment venues for government officials and company executives. According to Wanda Group's English website, Superstar had around 90 outlets as of last September and had planned to run 130 outlets by 2015. Wanda's move comes after Taiwan's Cashbox Partyworld Co shut down some of its karaoke outlets in China earlier this year. (Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Miral Fahmy)