Hang Fung plans regional expansion
Group aiming to triple stores and open in Taiwan, Singapore
Buoyed by strong Golden Week sales to visiting mainland customers, Hang Fung Gold Technology Group plans to expand into Taiwan and Singapore after opening its first branch in Macau this week.
Golden Week turnover was up 30 per cent year on year at Hang Fung's flagship 3D-Gold store in Hunghom, home to a lavish washroom with gold fittings. At its four Hong Kong retail stores turnover rose 10 per cent.
'Sales have been within expectations,' chief executive Kathy Ng Yi-mei said, adding that in the first six days of the Golden Week, a daily average of 400 tourists swamped its exhibition hall.
She said credit-card transactions averaged $7,000 to $8,000 per receipt with China UnionPay cards accounting for 45 per cent of the purchases and other credit cards taking up 5 per cent.
About 25 per cent of the transactions were settled in cash in yuan. Cash purchases averaged $3,000 to $4,000 per receipt.
Hang Fung chairman Lam Sai-wing said Disneyland's opening helped attract tourists to Hong Kong. He said tourists should be encouraged to stay more than one night in the city to help boost the jewellery industry and the rest of the retail sector.
'The day visitors and one-night stayers are not doing much good to Hong Kong, because they don't get the time to exercise their buying power,' he said.
Mr Lam proposed that public housing, including government-subsidised homes, should be turned into affordable hostels to help lower the cost of accommodation in Hong Kong.
'We don't want hotels to bear an exorbitant price tag,' Mr Lam said, adding that he expects the individual-traveller scheme on the mainland soon to be expanded to Qingdao, Jinan, Shenyang and Dalian.
'Accommodation needs to be cheap because the travellers we will soon receive are not those from the biggest cities. They will be looking for bargains.'
Hang Fung, which recorded $2.5 billion turnover last year, runs more than 100 stores in China and is looking for opportunities to expand into Taiwan and Singapore.
'We're aiming at expanding to 300 stores by 2008,' Ms Ng said.
Hang Fung is also jumping on the Macau bandwagon. Its first jewellery retail store, in downtown Nam Van district, will open on October 16. The 800 sq ft shop represents an investment of $15 million in renovation and inventory and will be followed by two or three more stores by the end of next year.
Hang Fung is also negotiating with a casino operator to build a tourist attraction in a casino-hotel.
'It will be another state-of-the-art tourist site,' Mr Lam said.
