Dickson Concepts, owner of Harvey Nichols department store, looks to founder’s son to lead online retail revamp

Dickson Concepts (International), the owner of department store Harvey Nichols, plans to invest up to HK$1 billion (US$128 million) on technology companies, including HK$250 million on revamping its flagship store in Pacific Place.

Pearson Poon, 24, who was named executive director last Friday, will oversee the project, a move experts say could pave the way for him to succeed his father and founder Dickson Poon, 62.

“We face unprecedented margins compression from online operators internationally,” Dickson Poon, chairman of Dickson Concepts, said at a media briefing on Monday. “Retailers need to [work on] the retail format that faces possible elimination.”

Pearson said the plan, to be launched in autumn next year, would include cutting the space of its existing flagship store at Pacific Place shopping centre in Admiralty by half from 84,000 square feet to 42,000 sq ft, which will reduce fixed costs by a lot. There are also plans to increase the products on offer by three times.

This, he said, will be achieved by interspersing online products with physical products at its stores.