Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) may defy a wave of department store closures by branching out with its newly acquired Seiyu outlet.
Jimmy Wong, leasing manager at Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, said the developer was considering opening a second Seiyu department store at YoHo Town, the biggest residential development in Yuen Long. The development, comprising a $3 billion, one million square foot shopping mall, is due to be completed as early as next year.
'As Seiyu is popular among residents in Sha Tin, we are confident it will also be popular in Yuen Long and [will] form an important part of the [YoHo Town] mall,' said Mr Wong, who is also the head of SHKP's retail portfolio covering more than nine million square feet. It is the largest private shopping mall owner in Hong Kong.
The move comes as two department stores in Causeway Bay close next year.
Two weeks ago, the 23-year-old Mitsukoshi in the Hennessy Centre said it was being forced to close because landlord Hysan Development had decided not to renew the lease after its expiry in September next year.
Seibu, which has occupied 30,000 sq ft of the ground floor of Windsor House since 1997, will close in July after landlord Chinese Estates Holdings said it would subdivide the 66,000 sq ft space on the ground floor and basement into small retail outlets - a move that would triple its rental income.
Over the past eight years, Daimaru, Yaohan, Matsuzakaya, Dragon Seed and Shui Hing have closed down, while debt-ridden Sogo sold its flagship department store in Causeway Bay to a consortium of developers for $3.53 billion in 2001.