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Property consultancy Savills has flagged a retail glut in Hong Kong. With supply way ahead of demand for goods, retail sales came down by 4.9% in January and February to touch just HK$59.04 billion.
Zooming in🛒 Locals blame unemployment (rates increased to 6.9%) while representatives tout the CVS (consumption voucher scheme) as their recovery blueprint.
🛒 The recent COVID-19 outbreak has shuttered stores, increasing vacancy rates to as high as 20% in some high-street areas of Tsim Sha Tsui.
🛒 Steady sectors like F&B are also feeling the impact.
🛒 The only retailers growing are supermarkets and pharmacies.
🛒 Restaurant leases have nosedived to only 15% of all leases.
🛒 Luxury fashion brands like Burberry are downing shutters too after exits of La Perla and Prada among others.
CVS- Only a flash in the pan?
📌 HK$10,000 consumption vouchers to be distributed by the Government from today.
📌 The voucher may be coming too late, with most global luxury brands switching to nearby zones like mainland China, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City.
📌 A recent survey indicates almost 50% of European businesses planning to leave Hong Kong by next year. Office leasing vacancies have gone up to 11.6% by end-March as well.
Zooming out
At this rate, a foreign-brands free Hong Kong seems a reality.
If only Unwanted Swadeshi was a caption... 😅
If only Unwanted Swadeshi was a caption... 😅