The North Face opens largest Asia store with 3,800 sq ft at K11, betting on Hong Kong’s retail recovery
- The outdoor sports brand is opening a 3,800-square foot store in K11 Art mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, seen as a vote of confidence in local retailing industry
- Volume and value of deals involving retail assets have grown 12.5 per cent and 52 per cent, according to Colliers
The North Face, the US-based brand known for its outdoor apparel and mountaineering gear and equipment, is set to open its largest store in Asia-Pacific in what could be the first tangible sign that Hong Kong’s battered retail property segment is on the mend.
Opening on December 2, the store covering 3,800 square feet in K11 Art mall in the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district comes as retailers eagerly look forward to welcoming Chinese tourists who could be back in large numbers after the border with the mainland reopens early next month.
“[The K11 store] is the largest store in Asia-Pacific and the broadest representation of the line we have anywhere, so we’re still very focused on bricks and mortar,” said Kevin Bailey, executive vice-president and group president for Asia-Pacific and emerging brands at VF Corporation, whose brands also include Vans, Dickies, Timberland, Supreme and Kipling. VF has 3,800 outlets in Asia.
The store’s opening is a spot of rare good news for Hong Kong’s retail segment, which has seen a number of luxury and mid-market brands close their stores in the city as visitors from mainland China started to dwindle in 2019, hurting their sales.
Last week, British luxury fashion house Burberry said it would shut its flagship store on Russell Street in Causeway Bay when its current 10-year lease expires in early 2022. It will be the third major global brand to close its flagship store on what was once the world’s most expensive shopping strip.