Hong Kong becomes more of a draw for niche European brands as mainland customers move away from bigger retail names

Hong Kong is still one of the best places to do business in the world, despite the city’s dropping retail sales figures and mainland visitor numbers, according to a French start-up founder, who received part of the company’s investments from the pop superstar Jay-Z.

Devialet, a Paris company that makes pricey and also reference-grade amplifiers, has opened its first Asian outpost in the IFC shopping mall in Central, with its co-founder and CEO Quentin Sannié saying Hong Kong is the first step for the brand to having a stronger Asian presence, and the city remains highly attractive to him.

“Hong Kong is a wonderful and trendy place for us to be,” said Sannié. “We first wanted to start in Shanghai three years ago but then thought it would be faster to do business in Hong Kong.”

Sannié said he was not worried about the city’s declining sales numbers as the sales performance of Devialet has already been promising since its opening in the city.

The city has seen its retail industry struggling for months as mainland visitor numbers kept dropping, with retail sales for 2016 down 8 per cent compared to 2015, the biggest drop in consumer spending since 1999, according to government figures.

“Hong Kong’s retail industry is suffering at the moment, but not all sectors are hurting as badly as people think,” said Sandro Hinds, director of the retail department at JLL, who was approached by Devialet last year to help with finding a site then its opening.