Since June this year, political disputes in Hong Kong have intensified
The retail industry is the first to bear the brunt. In the first quarter, the industry has been “emergency”. Some shopping malls have taken the lead in providing rent-free businesses. Some merchants have been unable to withstand the impact and have completed the first phase of business. How long this political turmoil lasts is still unknown, but it is certain that the retail market and the market are once again entering the cold winter.
Retail market road into the winter
According to the Financial Secretary, Mr. Chen Maobo, the number of visitors to Hong Kong fell sharply in August, and fell by 40% year-on-year in the middle of the month. Among them, the tourism, retail and catering industries were significantly affected, and the unemployment rate in tourism-related industries was particularly serious.
The Retail Management Association also pointed out that most of the retailers’ sales have fallen by 50% since the beginning of August, and the retail owners are urged to reduce the rent by half to assist the merchants for a period of six months to avoid the completion of the business.
Sales fell 50%
The above situation is very rare. Even in 2014, “occupied the middle”, the above situation did not occur. The retail industry is obviously “emergency” in the near future. If the political incidents are not resolved in the short term, I believe that the situation will be more severe later.
The lips are cold and the market is not spared. As I have seen, the number of renting places in the recent shops has increased. Some restaurant renters have only rented the shops for about three to six months. They immediately put the shops on top, and some merchants would rather stop the eclipse in time. Leaving the market, this is a far cry from the fact that past shop owners are willing to stay in business for a while.
Shopping tenants request rent reduction
A number of mall tenant plans are united to ask the owner to reduce the rent. Many retailers reached a consensus with the owners on the issue of renewing rents before the storm. However, due to the deterioration of political conflicts, the renewal of the entire branch of the store was shelved and the attitude was changed. According to the frontline figures of the Bank, on the first 12 days of this month, only 46 cases of retail rentals were recorded in Hong Kong, which was a far cry from the 208 cases in July.