Mauled by online shopping, small Hong Kong stores forced to adapt

In bustling Mong Kok, W Plaza is an anomaly - it's eerily quiet, with barely anyone browsing its 120 or so shops spread over three floors. Formerly known as Chic Mall, it is undergoing renovation and the search is on for new tenants specialising in wedding dresses and accessories, and other women's goods.

The management believe it's a timely move. Small shops selling cheap trainers, phone accessories and other knick-knacks - a long-time staple of Mong Kok and Causeway Bay - are feeling the pinch as more customers turn to online shopping, operators say.

In order to survive, malls and their tenants are being forced to find other ways to stay in business. One solution is to offer something that's difficult to find online.

Ken Lam, rental manager at W Plaza, believes the mall can turn its fortunes around by specialising in wedding accessories. "Quality is not a big concern for online shoppers; they just want bargains," he says. "Marriage is a once-in-a-lifetime affair that people won't skimp on. Brides-to-be need to try on the gowns and have many fittings. You can't do that online."

Lam adds that "young women also tend to prefer buying cosmetics in bricks-and-mortar shops" because they can test the quality of the products.

Even mid-range malls - not the cookie-cutter types renting to the same chain outlets - have been hit by the popularity of online shopping, resulting in many vacancies. A quarter of the 100 or so shops in Causeway Bay's Island Beverley Centre are vacant. Seventeen stand empty in the 200-shop Rise Shopping Arcade in Tsim Sha Tsui.