Hong Kong Protests Force Louis Vuitton To Close A Store; Will More Follow Its Lead?
Hong Kong protests have put retailers under siege. Now luxury leader LVMH's Louis Vuitton is closing a store in a prime shopping district and other luxury brands are likely to follow suit.
Ever since anti-government protestors took to the streets of Hong Kong in June of last year, luxury brands have taken a wait-and-see approach regarding business there. A planned Chanel store on Fashion Walk in the Causeway Bay district was put on hold, as was the opening of LVMH’s Rimowa luggage store in the same district.
But now Hong Kong retailers are under siege, as protests are increasingly targeting shopping areas and spreading to weekdays after the early days when protests were limited to weekends. The Causeway Bay shopping district has been particularly hard hit, with over 100 shops out of a reported 1,087 in the district closed by August 2019.
Henry Jong, senior regional sales director of realty agency Centaline Commercial, called Causeway Bay “a battlefield,” so its no surprise that Prada announced in August it would close its Russell Street store in the district when its lease expires in June 2020.
And now Louis Vuitton is pulling out as well, shutting its Times Square Mall store. Both Prada and Louis Vuitton attributed the closings to intractable landlords that refused to make rent concessions in light of rapidly falling sales.
Louis Vuitton’s seven other Hong Kong stores will remain open, and it plans a new store opening in the Hong Kong International Airport in 2021, but this closure will still hurt. Some 6% of LVMH’s €46.8 billion revenues in 2018 were made there.
But now Hong Kong retailers are under siege, as protests are increasingly targeting shopping areas and spreading to weekdays after the early days when protests were limited to weekends. The Causeway Bay shopping district has been particularly hard hit, with over 100 shops out of a reported 1,087 in the district closed by August 2019.
Henry Jong, senior regional sales director of realty agency Centaline Commercial, called Causeway Bay “a battlefield,” so its no surprise that Prada announced in August it would close its Russell Street store in the district when its lease expires in June 2020.
And now Louis Vuitton is pulling out as well, shutting its Times Square Mall store. Both Prada and Louis Vuitton attributed the closings to intractable landlords that refused to make rent concessions in light of rapidly falling sales.
Louis Vuitton’s seven other Hong Kong stores will remain open, and it plans a new store opening in the Hong Kong International Airport in 2021, but this closure will still hurt. Some 6% of LVMH’s €46.8 billion revenues in 2018 were made there.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
