Luxury Retailers Eye Hong Kong Expansion
Sun December 14, 2003 03:22 AM ET
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By Susan Fenton
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Rainbow Sun, a marketing manager from Shenzhen, has just seen a ring in a Cartier store in Hong Kong that she wants to buy on her next trip to the city.
Work permitting, that should be soon, she said.
The southern Chinese boom city of Shenzhen is a mecca for tourists seeking fake Gucci bags and Rolex watches, but increasingly affluent mainlanders want the real thing and for that they are shopping in Hong Kong.
"We don't have Cartier in Shenzhen," Sun said.
Hong Kong offers the full range of luxury retailers, including Cartier, Christian Dior and Fendi, which have this year opened new stores in the city, smartening up the Tsim Sha Tsui tourist district in Kowloon.
They are just round the corner from a new YSL boutique, while across the harbor in Hong Kong's central business district, Hermes, Prada and Ermenegildo Zegna are among luxury brands preparing to open flagship stores next year.
After tough times -- as Hong Kong suffered three recessions in six years and Japanese tourists virtually disappeared -- the city's retail sector is looking up again.
"We're riding a wave of interest from retailers. It's part of a cohesive strategy to raise their profile in China," said Simon Galpin, associate director-general at Invest Hong Kong.
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