City
Epaper

Louis Vuitton plans to close protest-hit HK store

By IANS | Published: January 03, 2020 2:27 PM

Luxury French fashion house Louis Vuitton has planned to shut one of its eights stores in Hong Kong due to a major plunge in sales at the outlet since the anti-government protests began seven months ago, a media report said on Friday.

Open in App

According to sources familiar with the matter, the brand has planned to shut its store in the Times Square mall in the shopping district of Causeway Bay, after the mall's owner refused a request to lower the rent on its prime second-floor space amid the plunging sales, the South China Morning Post said in the report.

Louis Vuitton had previously announced plans to open a ninth store at Hong Kong International Airport in 2021.

Before the protests, a large numbers of shoppers from mainland China would travel to the city to take advantage of lower prices for luxury goods since Hong Kong is a free port and does not impose customs tariffs on imported goods, the report said.

However, as some protesters have turned more violent and anti-China sentiment has increased, Chinese visitors have been shunning Hong Kong.

According to the latest figures released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, only 2.65 million people visited in November 2019, a decline of 56 per cent from the same period last year.

Retail sales have also plummeted with other international luxury brands including Moncler, Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo. These companies have reported sales declines of up to 45 per cent in Hong Kong during the third quarter that ended on September 30.

LVMH, the multinational luxury goods conglomerate that owns Louis Vuitton, reported a 25 per cent decline in its Hong Kong sales in the same period.

In the report, the South China Morning Post also said that to cope with the poor performance in its overextended Hong Kong retail network, LVMH has temporarily reassigned some sales staff to stores in mainland China, as many Chinese shoppers who used to come to Hong Kong for shopping sprees were now buying luxury goods back home.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: Hong KongchinaLouis VuittonLvmh
Open in App

Related Stories

InternationalTaiwan Detects 2 Chinese Aircraft Breaching Its Air Defence Identification Zone (See Tweet)

InternationalChina's Gold Rush: Surging Demand Lifts Prices to Record Highs

InternationalTaiwan Detects Seven Chinese Military Aircraft, Five Naval Vessels Across the Nation (See Tweet)

InternationalTaiwan Detects 26 Chinese Military Aircraft, Five Naval Ships Across the Country (See Tweet)

InternationalChina: Death Toll Rises to 36 After Motorway Collapse

International Realted Stories

InternationalOver 20 refugees, including Afghan citizens detained in Turkey: Report

International"Your governor won't be allowed to enter KP house": Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Gandapur warns Bilawal

InternationalUS soldier detained in Russia on theft charges, White House confirms

InternationalIsraeli army attacks targets in Rafah

InternationalWorld Uyghur Congress opposes Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit to Europe