More fast-fashion chains move into Shenzhen shopping centres
Shoppers across the border are staying at home as international brands move into new malls that are a match for Hong Kong's
The flow of shoppers from Shenzhen to Hong Kong is slowing as more international fast-fashion chains open for business in the border city.
"Shenzhen shoppers looking for international fast fashion [high turnover] brands used to love going to shop in Hong Kong," said Linda Lin Dan, retail services director in Shenzhen for property consultancy Colliers International.
"But since more of these brands began setting up their stores in Shenzhen in recent years … an increasing number of middle-class consumers are staying to shop in Shenzhen."
Shenzhen stores frequently held promotions and offered discounts so the price difference with Hong Kong was not that significant, she said. And newly opened malls in Shenzhen provide shopping environments that are just as attractive as those in Hong Kong.
Shopping in Shenzhen also meant the hassles of having to travel to Hong Kong could be avoided.
Last month, Forever 21 said it would open a 2,000 square-metre store in Coastal City, a shopping arcade in Shenzhen's Nanshan district this summer.
The opening will be the third for the American clothing retailer on the mainland and comes just a year after it opened in Hong Kong and later set up shop in Beijing and Shanghai.