From designer lingerie to hair products, Hong Kong start-up PopUp Angels offers retailers super short leases to show off

Hong Kong start-up PopUp Angels is offering a short-term alternative to retailers and landlords with pop-up store rentals as shop vacancies across the city continue to rise.

Launched in November in Hong Kong, the PopUp Angels portal lets retailers, or food and beverage companies, test ideas and reach new markets without committing to a long contract.

While demand from potential tenants is high, the city’s landlords are slowly coming round to the idea as their traditional model comes under threat from slumping retails sales.

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“Given that the retail market in Hong Kong has been doing so well in the past few years, it takes a while for the landlords to realise the golden age has passed and it’s time to find different ways to maximise the use of their vacant spaces,” said Kit Chan, director of PopUp Angels.

Real Estate Agency Sheraton Valuers predicted the vacancy rate for ground floor stores in Causeway Bay to reach one in 10 in the wake of the recently ended Lunar New Year holiday.

Retail sales recorded a year-on-year decrease of 3.7 per cent in 2015, hitting the lowest level since 2002, pushing many retailers to close stores.

The start-up is aimed at companies testing a new idea or online retailers wanting to open a bricks and mortar store for a short period to boost their brands’ presence.