American basics retailer, The Gap will be opening their first store in Hong Kong in November. Just around the corner, Abercrombie & Fitch are taking over Shanghai Tang’s space in the Pedder Building, paying $7 million a month in rent. The Queens Road Central area is fast becoming crowded with large, mid-priced retailers.

Despite its high foot-traffic location (on the former site of Queens Theatre,) The Gap may face a more difficult time attracting attention. As a provider of everyday casual wear, the brand faces competition from a medley of labels already entrenched in the neighborhood and throughout the city.

Though its prime location (next to a busy subway station) guarantees exposure, The Gap faces a long list of potential competitors, both on low-end and medium priced items. Stores such as Uniqlo, Cotton On, Giordano, H&M, Esprit, and Muji, are a few that can compete on various products and price points.

Unlike the high visibility of Abercrombie & Fitch’s logo emblazoned apparel, or H&M’s frequent collaborations with fashion luminaries, The Gap doesn’t immediately carry the same amount of buzz or notoriety.

Early on, The Gap needs to define itself to the local consumer. What is The Gap’s image and who wears their clothing?

Perhaps one way of is by gaining visibility is though celebrity placement. New services such as Alive.cn, help brands get associated with the right celebrities, sparking grass roots awareness of their labels via social networks.

Beyond image, there are practical localization issues such as sizing. Will the shirts be standard American sizes, or will they be more tapered? This is how American Apparel initially won lots of fans – the shirts fit slimmer builds better and were more flattering than the boxy American basics at the time.

Despite the hurdles, there is still ample opportunity to make a positive debut. Hong Kong inherently favors new and foreign things, so with the right moves, The Gap has a chance at making a strong initial impression.

Could the new Hysan Place shopping center be the address of the first official Apple store in Hong Kong? Located at 500 Hennessy Road, just across from Sogo, Hysan Place occupies the former site of Hennessy Centre.

The older complex, which housed the Japanese department store Mitsukoshi, was forty-one stories tall, but lacked a good layout for retail space. Hysan, the leading property developer in Causeway Bay, dismantled the old building, and has rechristened the location Hysan Place.

The new building, which is scheduled to open in 2012, will feature 15 floors of retail space, including a 45,000 square foot DFS store! Word on the street is that the Apple store will be another major tenant.

Though there was speculation about the official Apple store opening in IFC in Central, a Causeway Bay store has its advantages.

While IFC is a premium location, a shopping mall in Causeway Bay will have much higher foot-traffic throughout the day. Also the wow-factor of being a corner-stone in a new shopping mall will result in an explosion of traffic.

According to Hysan’s press release, there will even be a new MTR exit leading directly into the complex. This is important, as the current nearest location, exit F of the Causeway Bay MTR, is subject to constant pedestrian congestion.

For more information about Hysan Place, go here, here and here.

Hong Kong’s transition from Windows worms into Apple lovers…

For many years Apple users were a tiny minority of the Hong Kong population. Apple products and peripherals were so niche that you felt like part of an underground subculture just going to buy something at the handful of small shops around town. If someone else walked into the store, you would size them up and wonder who they were, and why you didn’t know them already.

Those days are long gone. iPhones and iPads are ubiquitous in consumer electronic-crazed Hong Kong. A simple ride on the MTR will make you feel, well, quite ordinary. A quick look around will confirm that a good percentage of the riders are immersed in their iPhones. (I strongly believe that Hong Kong has more iPhones per capita, than anywhere else in the world.)

The change of Apple from a computer company to a consumer electronics powerhouse has brought the elegance of their products to a much wider audience. But for all the remarkable growth and success that Apple has had in Hong Kong, the city has still lacked an official temple.

Even our neighbors to the North have several official Apple stores now, with plans for a massive expansion. Yet for all our sophistication, we’ve been deprived of the pillar of the Apple community, with no place to camp out for the latest launches.

A Hong Kong Apple store is long overdue, so the unconfirmed rumor of one opening up in Causeway Bay is exciting!

If indeed true, the address will be:

Official Hong Kong Apple Store
Hysan Place
500 Hennessy Road
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

While the masses flock to Times Square, IFC and Elements searching for gifts, why not beat the crowds and help keep Hong Kong’s indie spirit alive?

Kapok, a small shop that started in Tin Hau (and now has two stores in the Star Street neighborhood,) has been helping to promote Hong Kong’s indie scene for years.

In addition to their wide assortment of little luxuries, Kapok also holds frequent exhibitions showcasing interesting work from around the region. This month, local artist Fion Ko is highlighted in a show called “A Beautiful Mess.”

Kapok has gifts for a variety of budgets, and it’s a good spot to find special things for picky people. Their shelves are lined with collaboration projects, including interesting clothing and accessories that you can’t find any where else in town.

Have a look at their blog, or swing by their two shops to browse. (The two stores are right around the corner from each other, in a slightly hidden area of Star Street.)

Help support Hong Kong’s independent shops and artists!

“A Beautiful Mess” The adventures of La Petite Mu Mu and Fion Ko
Kapok
G/F, 3 Sun Street
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
The exhibition is on until January 8th, 2011

Also check out the Kapok store at: G/F, 5 St. Francis Yard (near Star Street)
Open extended hours from 10am to 9pm, (and until 6pm on Christmas Eve.)

Situated at 100 Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, The One is twenty-five floors of shopping, restaurants and snacks. But one thing that makes the new mall notable is the prominence of Japanese brands. Several of the shops are the first of their kind outside of Japan. What gives?

Japan’s tough economic climate, with stagnant growth for retail sales, has forced the normally insular clothing companies to look beyond their home market. Hong Kong, with its favorable view of Japanese brands, and a steady influx of Mainland tourists, offers a good opportunity for expansion.

The I.T group, a prominent Hong Kong retailer with strong existing ties to Japanese brands, has taken their formula to The One’s vertical setting.

Previously, i.t has built a presence for labels including Comme des Garçons, Visvim, Neighborhood, Junya Watanabe, SOPH and many others around the city.

Inside The One, i.t has assembled an impressive bouquet of Japanese labels positioned in prime locations. Browsing the shopping center, many of the stores bare the i.t logo on their front windows, emphasizing their local partner.

I.t supports the brands in several ways. For example, a fashion show organized last month highlighted several of the new stores including Love Boat, Murua, Love Girls Market, Royal Party and Spiral Girl, that sell affordable, trendy, girls clothing.

To further entice Hong Kong shoppers, there are boutiques that are exclusive to The One.

A big standout is the United Arrows, Beauty & Youth store, which I believe is the first outside of Japan.

(note the prominent i.t logos on the windows in blue.)

The brand stocks a selection of finely crafted contemporary renewals on old American classics. The appearance is comfortable, relaxed and stylish, all at once. The shop has clothing for both men and women.

United Arrows Beauty & Youth
Upper-ground level, shop UG204-UG206

What else will attract shoppers to The One?

The One isn’t a one-trick pony. In addition to a plethora of trendy Japanese brands, there are several other draws.

The shopping center boasts a new six-cinema multiplex that’s part of the Broadway chain. The theaters are spread out over the sixth, eighth, and tenth floors.

Home furnishings are another strong point of The One. The eighth floor is mostly taken up by an immersive home furnishings section that seamlessly combines two shops, Homeless and Lost & Found.

Filled with accessories and knicknacks, the space allows mall shoppers to explore in an all-encompassing environment, rather than browse separate shops. It’s a warmer space that makes you feel like you’re in a boutique and not a high-rise shopping mall.

Also in the home furnishings category, famous American mattress brands Sealy and Simmons both have shops in the mall. (What next? 1-800-M-A-T-T-R-E-S?)

The higher floors are occupied by restaurants with incredible views of Hong Kong Island. In some cases, they even have wrap-around outdoor balconies offering a view all the way to West Kowloon.

Apparently there’s a ‘Sky Garden’ on the 16th floor, which I didn’t explore, but was probably built to satisfy their public space requirement. (If you build over a certain number of stories, you need to allocate a certain amount of space for the public.)

At the time of my visit, The One was only 80% occupied, but it’s already worth a look! For more information on shops and restaurants, check out their website.

The One
100 Nathan Road (at the intersection with Granville Road)
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

Here’s a listing of their fashion directory:

We’ve all been there. It’s the day before Halloween and you don’t have a costume, or even a clue about what you’re getting dressed up as. You swear to yourself that next year you’ll get your costume organized in advance. Well, we’re giving you that extra special nudge to get your Halloween act together!

With Halloween less than 2 weeks away, it’s time to start preparing your costume, or at least figure out what you’re going to be and where you’re going to get it.

In Central, a good place to start are the costume shops on the corner of Pottinger Street and Wellington Street. Also in Central, close to the MTR, there’s a costume store located at 24 Li Yuen Street West (near the Des Veoux Road end.) In Mongkok you can find a similar selection at a shop located in Ladies Market, near the intersection of Tung Choi Street and Soy Street (G/F, 25 Tung Choi Street.)

For much more extravagant costumes, you can try House of Siren in Soho, which rents unique, upscale outfits for special events.

To get you inspired, here are some recaps of previous Hong Kong Halloweens gone by. Enjoy!

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005

You think you’re saving money buying your hair care products from Sa Sa? Think again. We’re going to tell you about an area where you can find shampoos, styling products, and even nail supplies at huge discounts.

Certain districts in Hong Kong are famous for offering bargains. Granville Road in Tsim Sha Tsui for example, has a cluster of shops selling discount cosmetics and perfumes. But the prices for hair care products there even seem high compared to the bottom of Temple Street.

What you’ll find on Temple Street, (just before the night market starts,) is a handful of shops that the salons buy their supplies from. The same product you purchase in Central for $176HKD is only $80HKD here.

There are great savings on styling products, shampoos, treatments and all sorts of accessories. The selection is large with many salon-only brands you won’t see in Hong Kong’s beauty and drug store chains. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in other shops, chances are they’ll have it here.

In addition to the already low listed prices, it’s possible in some cases to negotiate for even more savings. The cluster of shops are right next to each other, so it makes browsing for the best deal convenient. Why pay full price when you can potentially save over 50%? The places are fun to browse just to see the staggering array of gels, pastes and muds now on the market.

Getting there

The hair-care supply area of Temple Street is easy to get to. Take the MTR to Jordan Station and use Exit A. Once you leave Exit A, take a right, and proceed down Jordan Road for about two blocks until you intersect with Temple Street. Next, take a right on Temple Street, and shortly on your right you will begin to see the salon supply shops. You’re there! The street address should be around 224 Temple Street.

Worth a visit!

Delay No Mall opened last December, transforming a previously untouched corner of Causeway Bay into a two-story shopping center loaded with personality.

Commissioning local artists to create displays, and featuring exclusive brands found only under their roof, the mall was an ambitious undertaking. Fast forward to today, Delay No Mall is closed, the large space being subdivided and re-purposed. What happened?

According to their website, Delay No Mall isn’t finished, it’s just getting a remix. The notice currently states “The MALL is looking at an exciting change of CONCEPT to FOOD and BEVERAGE.”

Delay No Mall opened with a bang. In the early days they hosted several interesting events including the 24 Herbs CD launch and the Eric Haze show. Compared to say, the Causeway Bay LCX, which opened around the same time, it clearly had a style and direction.

Created by the founders of the G.O.D. lifestyle stores, Delay No Mall tapped local artists and came up with creative videos announcing their launch. The shopping center itself featured interesting touches such as a wrap-around cinema-style marquee, and even Pac Man tiled bathrooms!

Oh, what a difference a block makes

The Achilles heel of Delay No Mall is its location. Though just a short walk in either direction from main arteries of Causeway Bay, the place is simply awkward to get to. Both by foot and by taxi it’s not an easy approach. Thanks to the lack of a normal crosswalk, except on one side, and overzealous sidewalk fencing, the journey by foot means climbing up an elevated walkway, or a circuitous route that takes you past the building first. Arriving from the other direction is slightly better, but certainly less traveled.

Stopping by recently, there were a few sad remnants of the art that was initially commissioned. The shops are all gone and it appears to be in the early stages of redevelopment.

Becoming a destination

From the beginning, Hong Kong Hustle speculated that the mall would need to become a destination in order to work. This is a necessity because it’s out of the routine paths that shoppers follow in Causeway Bay.

By giving the space a unique personality, the operators certainly tried. Achieving the right balance of shopping, restaurants, lifestyle and entertainment attractions isn’t an easy feat. Causeway Bay is one of the top shopping neighborhoods in the world, and finding niches not already filled is difficult.

The theory behind adding entertainment and restaurants to a mall is that they draw a consistent flow of people through the doors, and thus help attract customers to the shops. This standard formula certainly works for other shopping centers in the city.

Though Delay No Mall, dabbled in adding restaurants and entertainment spaces, it did so rather late in the game and the effect didn’t seem cohesive. In fact, Delay No Mall opened piecemeal, in stages. The pressure to open as soon as possible – perhaps due to high rents, or to catch the Christmas season – possibly forced this decision. The end result is that the place never felt quite finished.

Delay No Mall remixed

Will the new reformatting of the space do the trick? I wouldn’t count these guys out just yet!

An updated, more stylish version of the “compartment store” has recently arrived. My Checker Box, located just a block away from Elizabeth House in Causeway Bay, provides a shopping thrill similar to browsing capsule toys. (For those of you unfamiliar with them, capsule toys are sold in clear plastic bubbles from vending machines.)

My Checker Box’s ground floor location, rare for this sort of shop, is a large 1900 square feet. Instead of a single owner, compartment shops typically rent out small cases of varying sizes to potentially over 100 different want-to-be retailers. The interior of the store includes modifiable compartments so that renters can create a tailored fit for their inventory. It’s up to the individual tenant what kind of merchandise they’d like to sell in their box.

The space is well lit, and features an interesting design both inside and outside the shop. Part of what makes the place attractive is that the items for sale (in clear plastic cases,) become part of the design.

With the right positioning, each compartment is a tiny universe unto itself. The experience of browsing the unique displays is reminiscent of glancing over toys sold in plastic bubbles.

At the time I visited there was a strong mix of products, from rare, limited-edition sneakers to eyeglass frames and designer items from celebrities. Where I think this type of shop has additional potential is in selling small hand-made products, such as the kind available at the crafts fair we covered.

As I’ve stated before, I like these shops because they give people an opportunity to dabble in the basics of creating a product and running a store. Facing Hong Kong’s exorbitant rents, it also provides a way for small designers to showcase their work without needing a huge initial investment or commitment to opening their own shop.

Unlike previous places we’ve written about, My Checker Box does not take a cut from the tenant’s sales.

My Checker Box offers different rents depending on the size and location of the space within the store. It’s a very interesting concept, taken to a higher level than previous shops I’ve seen. Factors that may influence their success include whether they can get good foot traffic and attract the right kind of browsers.

For details on their pricing information, have a look at the My Checker Box Facebook page.

My Checker Box
G/F, 228 Gloucester Road
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong (one block away from Elizabeth House towards Wanchai)
mycheckerbox@gmail.com
9349-5871

I was walking along Cannon Street in Causeway Bay (known for pet stores and Vietnamese restaurants,) when I spotted a new shop. There was a small crowd gathered out front peering through the windows. What was the attraction?

If you looked closely in the first window there was a chameleon semi-camouflaged, blending in with the fake leaves in its enclosure.

In the second window there were three large lizards slithering around on the ground as a female staff member attended to them. A few medium-sized turtles were also in the mix.

No, wise-guy, this wasn’t the opening of an exotic burger joint! The shop, Reptile Corner, is a clear standout among the other pet stores in the neighborhood.

I’m not sure why, but certain people find reptiles irresistible as pets. Perhaps it has something to do with our love of dinosaurs?

It’s not just guys buying reptiles either. There seems to be equal interest from both men and women. A girl I know used to have a large lizard and would take it on outings to Repulse Bay beach! (I wouldn’t want to be the one laying there when that thing slithered up!)

There was enough action in the front window alone to keep me outside on the pavement. I didn’t go in for a closer look, so I’m not sure whether their stock also includes snakes, another reptile.

Have an idea why people like reptiles as pets? Add your thoughts in the comments!

Can we all just get along?

I was walking through the Admiralty MTR station last Sunday when I noticed a large vending machine against one of the posts. Positioned in a rainbow formation beneath the glass was a colorful array of umbrellas.

Vending machines are normally associated with items such as drinks and snacks, but other, more novel uses do exist. Hong Kong Hustle previously covered the use of vending machines to sell cosmetics. We concluded that that combination of product and sales method perhaps wasn’t a great match. How about umbrellas?

Not every product is suitable for vending machines

If you think about it, umbrellas don’t require refrigeration, won’t expire, and (in this case) are a uniform size, which makes them easier to sell via machine.

Though I’m no expert, I believe that umbrellas are likely a seasonal product. Certain months it rains more than others, which means that during those months umbrella sales are at their peak. If this is the case, it would be smart to temporarily install a vending machine in the MTR for the few months that people tend to buy them.

Umbrellas are a necessity purchase driven by weather conditions. Therefore, when it comes to buying one, most people do not have the luxury of brand loyalty. Often you don’t shop around for an umbrella. There is no single store associated with umbrellas (although in Hong Kong there actually are a few stores that do specialize in umbrellas!) If it’s raining and you don’t have one, you buy one!

I should mention that umbrellas in Hong Kong are actually dual use. During hot, sunny days it’s common to see people using umbrellas to block the sun. The vending machine in fact boasts that the umbrella cuts 90% of UV rays. Perhaps this also explains why the colors may prove popular – people want an umbrella to look good with their outfit and aren’t just using them as protection from the rain.

Placing them in the MTR station is a smart idea. Not only is it a high foot traffic area, but it catches the potential consumer in the midst of their trip, offering them the opportunity to buy before they exit onto the street or on their way home.

Simplicity

Vending machines are best at simple transactions. In Hong Kong, their ease of use is aided by accepting the ubiquitous Octopus card. The Octopus is a payment system developed initially for transportation (trains, buses, trams, mini-buses and ferries,) that has spread throughout the city. Places that accept Octopus range from Starbucks, McDonald’s, and 7-Eleven, to Hong Kong’s parking meters. Payment by Octopus means faster transactions with no fumbling for change. The majority of Hong Kong’s residents have an Octopus card and use them on a daily basis.

According to the diagram, purchasing an umbrella from the vending machine is extremely easy. The machine outlines a two step process: first, touch your Octopus card to the designated area and next, select a color. That’s it!

The vending machine smartly concentrates on small-sized umbrellas with a wide selection of colors. This is particularly well suited to fashion-conscious Hong Kong shoppers. The small size additionally appeals to those who would like to put their umbrellas away in a bag when not in use. (Stop to think how many times you’ve been caught lugging around an umbrella when you don’t need one.)

The umbrellas retail for $68 HKD. This is more expensive than convenience store umbrellas, which I believe retail from around $26 to $46 HKD. However, the advantage of these umbrellas is they come in basic, popular colors, (with no obtrusive logos,) and are small enough to tuck into a bag.

Potential competition?

Hong Kong’s massive network of convenience stores, 7-Eleven and Circle K currently provide a major source of temporary or single-use umbrellas. The stores are literally all over the city, as well as in the MTR stations. However, the umbrellas they sell are not particularly high-quality, nor are they available in fashionable colors. 7-Eleven for example sells several lines: umbrellas with their logos, or more discreet, single-colored umbrellas. Both of these occasionally sell out during Hong Kong’s sometimes sudden, heavy rains.

Verdict: a well-placed vending machine offering small umbrellas in a wide range of colors fills a niche – especially during the peak of Summer and the rainy season!