Even If The Overall Retail Environment Is Relatively Weak, Why Do Overseas Brands First Open In Hongkong?

Recently, Canadian singer Justin Bieber's personal clothing line, Drew House, opened a two storey guerrilla store in Hongkong's central scale street, attracting a large number of fans to queue up for panic buying.

Ryan Good, brand co-founder, said: "sales will not be faked. We didn't expect to gather so many people that we were completely shocked."

According to Ryan Good, the brand is now preparing to open more guerrilla stores in other Asian cities and Western Europe, but coming to Hongkong is entirely a "whim".

In fact, Hongkong is indeed a large number of brands apart from New York, Paris and London, the first choice for several retail outlets.

In March of this year, Palm Angels, founded by Francesco Ragazzi, opened its first flagship global store in Hongkong, and a few months ago, Heron Preston opened its first brand store nearby.

Similarly, in Tongluowan, Marcelo Burlon's County of Milan and Virgil Abloh Off-White are among the first brand entities in the world.

Although the brand settled in Hongkong is aimed at a broader broader Chinese market, Hongkong's overall retail environment is relatively weak.

According to the latest statistics released by the statistics office of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region of China, the total retail sales of Hongkong retail industry declined for the first time in February this year after 23 months of continuous growth.

In February, retail sales in Hongkong decreased by 10.1% to HK $40 billion 700 million.

The total retail sales increased by 7% over the same period last month.

In the first two months of 2019, the total retail sales decreased by 1.6% compared to the same period last year, and the total sales volume decreased by 1.8% compared with the same period last year.

PWC, an accounting firm, said PwC expects total retail sales in Hongkong to drop by 3% this year compared with last year.

However, the Hongkong Retail Management Association said they expect the total retail sales in Hongkong to have a low digit growth rate.

As to why Hongkong is loved and sought after by so many brands, Federico Tan, co-founder and general manager of marketing and communications agency social/capital, said that Hongkong not only has a strong retail partner network, but also provides a future insight into the fashion industry and an important hub for Asia.

"From looking for shops, hiring employees to open the door, the whole process is very convenient, and the tax system is also simple and easy to understand."

In addition, Hongkong's lease is signed in three years, and other big cities often take off from five years.

Although the rents of stores in Hongkong are among the best in the world, they give young brands more flexibility and maneuverability.

Federico Tan points out that Hongkong can adjust and adapt to the global trend in time.

"Hongkong has attracted the opinion leaders from Japan, Korea, the United States and Europe. It can be said that besides Tokyo, Hongkong has the largest number of global brands, from luxury goods to niche brands.

The unique thing about Hongkong is that people like to mix and match here. People who buy Louis Vuitton (LV), Dior (Dior) and Chanel (Chanel) will also buy Comme des Gar ons ons (Wakubo Rei) and Fear of God.

Another reason for brand selection to enter Hongkong lies in the fact that Hongkong has a high voice in the tide brand culture. The world-famous street fashion media Hypebeast and the famous fashion group I.T are born in Hongkong.

Founded in 2005, Hypebeast has evolved from Ma Bairong's personal blog to an empire that is at the forefront of youth culture worldwide.

Its business includes media brands HYPEBEAST, HYPEBAE, hypekids, POPBEE, HYPEBEAST magazine, e-commerce platform HBX, creative agency HYPEMAKER, the first entity store in central Hongkong, and last year in New York attracted tens of thousands of consumers to participate in the trend of Hypefest.

Recently, the company moved from the Hongkong stock exchange gem to the main board.

Federico Tan said: "in fact, the price of Off-White and Palm Angels has already surpassed the trend. In the past year, the brand culture has had a strong impact on the entire fashion industry. These are the most concerned brands."

In spite of the trend, the brand also hopes to continue to exert its influence to expand its influence to the market outside the stores and outside Hongkong, attracting consumers from China, the Middle East and even the whole world.

Herschel co founder Jamie Cormack said the brand is working hard to establish direct links with consumers in Greater China. "This is a long process. It is not easy to own a store in China.

But it's worth it. "

Herschel now has sales channels in the Chinese market and has already entered Tmall.

Jamie Cormack points out: "China is leading the consumption of mobile terminals, and nearly 96% of our business comes from mobile terminals.

This pushes us forward and is conducive to creating mobile end user experience in other countries.

Rajat Malhotra, co-founder of Demystifying Dubai Inc Sole DXB, said consumers' recognition of tide brands has been increasing.

Sole DXB is designed to help tide brands and sports leisure brands connect with consumers in Dubai.

"For many years, if you want to buy a pair of Adidas (Adidas) shoes in Dubai, you can only buy them in one place.

At the moment when the electricity supplier started to emerge, many monopoly distributors felt the pressure of competition.