UK developer Berkeley takes a punt on Causeway Bay space once occupied by Gucci and La Perla, launch
Berkeley’s lease expires on October 24. So far, most of the clients walking in have been from Hong Kong, said Anthony Jurenko, director of Hong Kong at Berkeley.
Pop-up stores suit both tenants and landlords in a struggling retail property market, said Lawrence Wan, senior director, head of advisory and transaction services – retail, at CBRE Hong Kong.“The lease period is more flexible and it is not necessary to invest a large lump sum in renovations,” he said. “Retailers can try different ideas at pop-up stores whilst providing a refreshing shopping experience to customers.
“At the same time, some landlords would take the opportunity to lease to short-term pop-up stores, rather than leaving shops vacant.”
The pop-up – billed as “Berkeley on the Square” – is the first time that the developer has put up such a store and ventured into Causeway Bay for a marketing and promotional campaign. The retail experience is expected to attract 3,000 visitors for its entire duration, Sung said.
Berkeley is promoting projects in London, such as Camden Goods Yard, Broadway East, Cascades 2 at White City Living and Palmer House at Fulham Reach. It is also promoting Oakhill in Kent.
Can Hong Kong reclaim luxury retail market crown?
Before Berkeley, Hong Kong-based and listed fashion brand Esprit had also leased the Causeway Bay space for a pop-up store.
High-street shop vacancies in Hong Kong dropped to 11.4 per cent as of the end of September, from a peak of almost 20 per cent during the coronavirus pandemic, Wan said.
Hong Kong’s retail property market, however, has yet to recover to its pre-pandemic levels. From 2020 to 2022, retail sales in the city were between HK$326.4 billion (US$41.7 billion) and HK$352.9 billion, according to government data. In the 2011 to 2019 period, the segment’s gross receipts ranged from HK$405.7 billion to HK$494.5 billion.
02:41
Millions flock to China's main tourist attractions to celebrate National Day
Millions flock to China's main tourist attractions to celebrate National Day
In the first eight months of this year, retail sales amounted to HK$270.5 billion, according to provisional figures released by the government, a growth of about a fifth from the same period last year.
On a monthly basis, however, August’s sales increased 13.7 per cent from a year ago to HK$32.4 billion, the year’s lowest in terms of value following July’s HK$33.03 billion in sales and the second-slowest in terms of growth after January’s 6.9 per cent rise, latest official data shows.
Moreover, retail sales are not likely to have improved significantly in September and October, if recent trends are to go by.
Hong Kong’s retail sector revives: top landlords report growth among tenants
During the recent seven-day “golden week” holiday for China’s National Day, when millions of mainland Chinese tourists travel with many heading to Hong Kong, the city’s retailers saw sales “similar to that of a typical weekend” despite a 20 per cent to 30 per cent increase in foot traffic, according to JLL, based on the property consultancy’s interviews with more than 10 retailers.“Retailers are losing confidence in the business prospects of the Lunar New Year holiday in 2024, following disappointing retail sales during [this past] golden week,” said Oliver Tong, head of retail in Hong Kong and general manager in Macau at JLL. “JLL expects retailers to slow down their expansion plans in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the upwards trend in retail rents is losing momentum.”
An estimated 1 million visitors came to Hong Kong between September 29 and Wednesday, according to Immigration Department statistics.
27:15
274 million Chinese take a holiday: why ‘golden week’ 2023 was different
274 million Chinese take a holiday: why ‘golden week’ 2023 was different
“The weak retail sales during the golden week reflected a change in the shopping behaviour of mainland tourists, who now prefer social media check-ins over shopping,” Tong said.
“Their spending power has also decreased.”
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