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Sandy Li

Dickson Concepts (International) is opening a $50 million department store, Hong Kong Seibu, as well as  a flagship top-end watch and jewellery shop, in the traditionally low-end district of Mongkok.

The luxury retailer yesterday signed a six-year lease agreement to take up 20,000 square feet for the  Seibu outlet, and a further 1,400 sq ft for a Dickson Watch & Jewellery shop.

Both outlets will open at Langham Place, developed by Great Eagle Holdings.

The $10 billion Langham Place, slated for completion in the fourth quarter of this year, is located on Portland Street in the heart of Mongkok's  red-light district. But the 1.8 million-sq-ft retail-office-hotel complex is expected to transform the area into a prime shopping destination.

Dickson Concepts chairman Dickson Poon said the company had been looking for opportunities to open its first Seibu store in Kowloon. 'But the problem was that there were no prestigious shopping malls that can match our image. Langham Place is a perfect choice for us,' he said.

Great Eagle deputy chairman Lo Ka-shui refused to disclose the exact leasing terms, but said that  the average retail rental rates at Langham Place were similar to  those in Causeway Bay.

Causeway Bay is the third-most expensive shopping district in the world, with rents  averaging US$500 per square foot a year, according to international consultant Cushman & Wakefield Healy & Baker.

Mr Poon said the Mongkok investment would be financed by internal resources,  noting that his company  had net cash reserves of $400 million  in December.

With the planned opening of seven more shops this month, he said the group had added 76 stores  this financial year, expanding its  retail network to nearly 400  outlets throughout  East Asia.



Dickson sets store by $50m Seibu shop