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SCMP Reporter

SHOPPING AT Elements, the new mall in Union Square, promises to be a journey of exploration. Several new brands will make their debut as a third of its tenants are international.

Elements, the centrepiece of the 12 million sqft Union Square, will occupy only two floors, each of 400,000 sqft. It bucks the trend in Hong Kong of malls occupying multilevels.

'We find through research that shoppers don't like going up in malls. They start to develop resistance from the third floor onwards,' said Betty Leong, MTR Corporation's chief retail development manager.

To eliminate walking in a straight line from one end of the mall to the other, shops will be located along a loop that keeps shoppers flowing in a circular direction.

To make access convenient for drivers, 1,700 parking spaces will be built on either side of the mall so that they can park close to an area they wish to visit.

The mall has been designed by Benoy, which also designed Europe's largest mall Britain's Bluewater in Kent and the new Bullring in Birmingham.

Elements will comprise zones named after the five elements - metal, water, wood, fire and earth. Each zone will be defined by the nature of the shops, art pieces and landscaping.

The metal zone will focus on luxury brands and fine-dining restaurants; the wood zone on well-being, housing health and beauty boutiques and lifestyle stores; the water zone on international cuisine; the fire zone on entertainment and the earth zone on mid-priced fashion presented in a garden setting.

One of the main tenants will be 360, a supermarket chain new to Hong Kong. It will open its first outlet in the Landmark before setting up its second in Elements.

There will also be 12 cinemas with a total of 1,700 seats showing films of different genres, including art house films.

'This is a joint venture between Shaw Brothers and Universal Studios. Shaw Bothers had a flagship cinema in Hong Kong called the Palace, which was demolished to make way for redevelopment. Shaw Brothers would like to recreate a cinema of that scale in Elements,' Ms Leong said.

Dining will also be a  drawcard of the mall. In addition to new overseas operators, Elements has attracted a quite a few restaurants operating in Lan Kwai Fong.

Ms Leong said the entire first floor of the mall for mid-priced brands had been leased and about 70 per cent of the second floor for premium brands. So far, the mall has achieved 80 per cent occupancy.

About 35 per cent of the tenants who have signed up are making their debut in Hong Kong. They include H&M, a popular Swedish fashion chain.

More than 30 per cent of the space will be allocated to dining outlets as the mall is intended to be a 'dining destination'. More than 40 restaurants would provide a range of cuisines, and half of those signed up were first timers in Hong Kong, Ms Leong said.

The podium level will comprise a 60,000 sqft Aromatic Garden, featuring a variety of plants, and a 100,000 sqft play area. Another entertainment venue will be a large ice-skating rink on the ground level.

'Mall shopping is a major family outing, but not a particularly pleasant one for men and children. Elements intends to make the experience pleasant for all,' Ms Leong said.

'Hong Kong has IFC and other luxury shopping malls, but there have not been any premium shopping malls on the Kowloon side.

'However, there are more households in Kowloon earning more than HK$60,000 a month than on Hong Kong Island. [People living in Kowloon] have to cross the harbour if they want upscale shopping. So we see a commercial opportunity to position this mall as a luxury upscale one,' she said.

Ms Leong said Union Square would create a daily flow of 100,000 people, eventually building up to 150,000.



Shoppers in their elements as mall goes with the flow