Global Luxury Brands Pour Into Hongkong &Nbsp; Attract Mainland Customers.

Mass market retailers are pouring into the world as the largest.

Abercrombie&FitchCo., GapInc., apple (AppleInc.), Forever21Inc. and AmericanEagleOutfittersInc. are the latest retail businesses open or planned to open in Hongkong.

As a reflection of the trend, Abercrombie will move into a golden berth of PedderBuilding, a historic building in central Hongkong, to replace the long term tenant.

A report by Cushman&Wakefield, a real estate brokerage firm, said that Abercrombie will pay HK $7 million (about 5 million 847 thousand yuan) for a 25 thousand square foot (2300 square meter) shop, which is more than two times the rent paid in Shanghai.

Davies and Savills, the first real estate broker who participated in the paction, refused to confirm the figures. (Abercrombie)

In recent years, Prada (Prada),

Although retail sales in North America and Europe have been hit hard by the global financial crisis, sales in Hongkong have been growing rapidly.

According to statistics from the census and Statistics Department (CensusandStatisticsDepartment), retail sales in Hongkong increased by 20% in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the same period last year.

An important factor is the increase in the number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong.

A total of 6 million 500 thousand mainland tourists visited Hong Kong in the first four months of this year, an increase of 17.5% over the same period last year.

Many people come to Hongkong's prices.

The price of Hongkong is probably 40% lower than that of the mainland because it does not levy taxes on retail sales.

Davies, chief leasing officer at NickBradstreet, said that American brands lagged behind European retailers in Hongkong.

Li Dazhi said that Europeans were ahead.

He listed a large number of luxury brands in Hongkong and Zara and H&M, which entered Hongkong in 2004 and 2007 respectively.

Li Dazhi said that Europeans are more daring to go abroad to do business than Americans, and a German company can't go to Spain, but in the United States, because of the large domestic market, they do not necessarily have to expand overseas to achieve growth.

Real estate agents said that Abercrombie had defeated several rivals in the fierce competition before they got the lease.

Shanghai declined to comment.

Since Deng Yongqiang (DavidTang) founded the brand of "Shanghai" in 1994, its store has been in the building on PedderStreet.

Sely, manager of investor relations department at Abercrombie, said that people like the landmark buildings. We think that the construction of Bie Xing is such a building. (EricCerny)

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He also said the company chose three years for the location of the new store in Hongkong.

Born in 1923, it is a nine storey building. The neoclassical arches and stone pillars make it very attractive in the skyscrapers of Hongkong.

Bi De Xing was the headquarters of Hongkong trading company Jebsen&Co. from 1926 to 1992.

KevinLam, director of real estate broker Dead Leung Ban (DTZ), said that some businessmen who came to Hongkong may be willing to spend more money to rent a good lot, because this will help them to publicize their brands to Chinese consumers.

Lam said that one of the main components of flagship stores is huge signboards. Signboards are part of marketing tools for businesses to enhance consumer brand awareness. I know that some brands incorporate rents into marketing budgets, so that rents are more reasonable.

Abercrombie followed the example of AmericanEagle, which opened a 8500 square foot (789.7 square meter) store in Hongkong's bustling Tsim Sha Tsui in March.

This is AmericanEagle's first store in Asia, but it plans to open more.

The US youth fashion brand Forever21 plans to open a 50 thousand square foot (4654 square meter) store in Tongluowan, Hongkong, at the beginning of next year, with a monthly rent of HK $11 million, while Gap plans to open its first store in Hongkong this year.

MichelleWoo, who has participated in Forever21 and Gap's Hongkong store rental project, said the 20 thousand square foot store had a monthly rent of HK $5 million.

It's not just clothing companies that come to Hongkong.

Apple used to sell products in Hongkong through authorized dealers, and is now opening stores in Hongkong.

In February 2010, apple said it would open 25 stores in mainland China and Hongkong in two years.

One of the two new Apple stores will enter the Hongkong international financial center (InternationalFinancialCentre) building later this year, people familiar with the matter said.