{"id":1332,"date":"2016-08-24T18:12:05","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T18:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.thestorefront.com\/?p=1332"},"modified":"2022-10-12T10:56:39","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T10:56:39","slug":"nutella-nike-pop-stores-boosting-hong-kong-retail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thestorefront.com\/mag\/nutella-nike-pop-stores-boosting-hong-kong-retail\/","title":{"rendered":"From Nutella to Nike, Pop-Up Stores are Boosting Hong Kong Retail"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brands capitalize\u00a0on falling rents to open Pop-Up Stores<\/a>\u00a0in Hong Kong’s\u00a0high-end shopping\u00a0districts, and brands appear in malls they cannot typically afford\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why is Lorraine Lam waiting in line for two hours at a tony Hong Kong mall to buy the same Nutella spread that grocery stores sell for much less?<\/p>\n

So she can get her friend\u2019s name on the label. Nutella\u2019s Pop-Up Store in the Pacific Place center is swamped with customers willing to spend $HK80 ($10) for a 350-gram (12-ounce) jar of the hazelnut confection with a personalized touch. The\u00a0Ferrero SpA\u00a0brand is selling almost 1,000 jars a day from its counter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI rarely go to the mall because I need to take a one-hour bus ride to get here,\u201d said Lam, a 21-year-old university student. \u201cBut this time it\u2019s worth coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

With retail sales in Hong Kong declining for 16 straight months, brands such as Nutella and Havaianas are capitalizing on falling rents to open temporary outlets in some of the city\u2019s high-end shopping\u00a0districts. At the same time, anchors\u00a0such as\u00a0Nike Inc.\u00a0are trying to generate more traffic by \u201cpopping up\u201d in front of mall walkers with new or limited-edition products.<\/p>\n

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\u201cRetailers are trying more aggressively to adjust to changing consumer demand by providing more \u2018special\u2019 and better-quality products,\u201d said Angel Young, managing director of market researcher Nielsen Hong Kong and Macau. \u201cPop-up stores bring new excitement to customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malls like Pacific Place in Admiralty and Wharf Holdings Ltd.\u2019s cavernous Harbour City in Kowloon long relied on a steady stream of mainland Chinese shoppers loading up on\u00a0Louis Vuitton\u00a0handbags and Cartier watches.<\/p>\n

But now those high spenders are spurning Hong Kong in favor of Tokyo and Paris, while less well-heeled shoppers worry about\u00a0China\u2019s decelerating economy and the city\u2019s social and political tensions, culminating in the violent Occupy protests. The number of mainland Chinese visitors\u00a0to the city declined for a 13th straight month in June to\u00a03.2 million, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s triggering a decline in retail sales, which\u00a0fell<\/a>\u00a0almost 11 percent during the first six months of the year, according to the Hong Kong government. Sales in June fell 8.9 percent, exceeding analysts\u2019 estimates.<\/p>\n

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To cushion the blow, commercial landlords are searching for new ways to generate foot traffic at the bevy of malls. They\u2019re giving space to brands that typically don\u2019t cater to high-end shoppers, and they\u2019re allowing brands already there to experiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cPop-up stores offer freshness,\u201d said\u00a0Kitty Choy, director of the retail business for\u00a0Hysan Development Co.\u00a0\u201cThe element of surprise keeps shoppers anticipating to discover: What is going to come next?\u201d<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s Hysan Place in tourist-mecca Causeway Bay<\/a> has hosted pop-ups featuring the Nike, Kiehl\u2019s, Uniqlo and Nespresso names. Also,\u00a0Lululemon Athletica Inc.\u00a0introduced Sunday morning yoga classes in the public space to generate buzz for its store.<\/p>\n

Nike set up a miniature basketball court that also showcases its sneakers. The company uses pop-up retail around the world to offer unique\u00a0products, analyze customers\u2019 running styles and support promotional tours by endorsers such as NBA superstar\u00a0Kevin Durant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great way to offer immersive experiences for consumers,\u201d the Beaverton, Oregon-based company said in an e-mail.<\/p>\n

At\u00a0Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.\u2019s APM mall in Kwun Tong, one local celebrity is using a pop-up to launch his own brand of cookies. Actor and singer\u00a0Nicholas Tse is selling four different flavors at his outlet until Dec. 1.<\/p>\n

Pop-ups are coming late to Hong Kong after being regular fixtures in the U.S. and Europe for almost\u00a0two decades. Opening small outlets in out-of-the-ordinary locations can help brands connect with customers that normally wouldn\u2019t shop in their traditional stores, said\u00a0Michael Cheng, Asia Pacific & Hong Kong\/China retail & consumer partner at\u00a0PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be a good start for retailers,\u201d Cheng said. \u201cIf they can turn the traffic in the pop-up stores to long-term customers online, the model can effectively boost sales without signing long-term store leasing contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nutella, owned by Ferrero, opened its pop-up counter in Pacific Place on Aug. 1. On a recent weekday, the line of customers snaked around the counter and down the mall in front of sparsely populated stores.<\/p>\n

Lam said she was buying jars as a birthday gift. After ordering, she had to wait about 20 minutes for the employees to personalize them.<\/p>\n

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\"People<\/div>
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People line up for a personalized Nutella jar.<\/div>\n
Photographer: Anthony Kwan\/Bloomberg<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The company has sold more than 17,000 personalized jars from the pop-up, which closes Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very surprised and delighted to see the campaign has been so well-received by Hong Kong consumers,\u2019\u2019 the company said in an e-mail.<\/p>\n

Not too far away is a Mexican cafe that doubles up as a pop-up store for Havaianas<\/a> flip-flops. At one end, people sit at converted 55-gallon drums having beer and nachos from the Brickhouse restaurant. At the other, customers choose from a rainbow-colored wall of flip-flops.<\/p>\n

\"20160708093506-intro_resized_773x464\"<\/p>\n

The open-layout store is selling 40 percent more shoes than the brand\u2019s traditional brick-and-mortar locations, said Peter Solomon, executive chairman of Havaianas\u2019 Hong Kong distributor Electric sekki. With regular stores, retailers need to pay for renovation, lighting and storage space. Pop-ups just need a counter and a display, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will definitely open more pop-ups in Hong Kong,\u201d Solomon said. \u201cWe can take that model from location to location, using it multiple times.\u201d<\/p>\n

by Daniela Wei and Frederik Balfour<\/em><\/p>\n

Article sourced from\u00a0Bloomberg<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brands capitalize\u00a0on falling rents to open Pop-Up Stores\u00a0in Hong Kong’s\u00a0high-end shopping\u00a0districts, and brands appear in malls they cannot typically afford\u00a0 Why is Lorraine Lam waiting in line for two hours at a tony Hong Kong mall to buy the same Nutella spread that grocery stores sell for much less? So she can get her friend\u2019s 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