Harrods takes pride of place in revamped Seibu food hall

Harrods is coming to Hong Kong. The upmarket London department store owned by Egyptian billionaire Mohammed Al Fayed will occupy 500 square feet of the revamped food hall under Seibu in Pacific Place.

Under a licence agreement with the Hutchison Whampoa-owned AS Watson Group - operators of ParknShop supermarkets - the outlet will initially offer non-perishable goods such as tea, coffee and food gift items as well as a home delivery service.

'In the future there may be the possibility of fresh goods,' said Peter Willasey, corporate communications director.

Competing with the Harrods label, which until January was permitted to mark its products with the label 'Royal Provider of the Duke of Edinburgh', will be products from other upmarket retailers which include Fortnum & Mason and Harvey Nichols.

Harrods already operates 'shops within shops' throughout the region which includes 61 outlets in Japan, one in Singapore and a recently opened store at Kuala Lumpur airport.

Watsons will operate the 10-year-old 'Coo' Pacific Place food hall, which will re-open in early December under a new name.

The overhauled 34,000 square foot of retail space will include a wine and oyster bar, a coffee and pastry lounge, as well as dine-in or take-away Asian and European cuisine.