The rise (and occasional fall) of Hong Kong’s Japanese department stores
Starting with Daimaru in 1960, the city has seen big chains from Japan come and go
When Daimaru opened Hong Kong’s first Japanese department store in November 1960, 4,000 guests attended the cocktail party marking the occasion.
The Causeway Bay store was the chain’s first overseas branch, but the retail mix was distinctly global, reflecting the British colony’s cosmopolitan outlook as an old East-meets-West trading port.
“The store is ultra modern and streamlined. The goods are attractively displayed on well spaced counters and soft music provides a constant background,” this newspaper said.
When Matsuzakaya opened its Causeway Bay store 15 years after Daimaru, in 1975, a director told the Post only 50 per cent of the goods would come from Japan, with 30 per cent from Europe.
The quality of merchandise in the store would be higher than in all other Hong Kong department stores, “except Lane Crawford”, he said, but prices would be competitive.
This held true throughout the 1980s, and Sogo became the fourth Japanese department store on the block in 1985, with an MTR exit that helped funnel commuters through its aisles. The wide pavements on the corner of its King’s Road entrance became a popular meeting place for friends – a focal point previously enjoyed by Daimaru.
Other Japanese stores to have come and gone in Hong Kong over the past five decades include Isetan, Seibu and Tokyu.