立足香港，瞄准内地 Retailers rush to Hong Kong to pitch for the mainland prize

Mongolian yurts on a ferry pier may be a strange sight for Hong Kong commuters but they are a telling symbol of the city’s shifting retail landscape.

对于香港通勤者而言，位于一个摆渡码头上的蒙古包或许是一道奇观，但这些蒙古包却是香港零售业版图不断变化的有力象征。

The yurts are the temporary home of Shanghai Tang, the luxury brand and Richemont subsidiary, which has just lost its 13-year-old flagship store in a downtown colonial building to Abercrombie & Fitch, the US fashion chain.

这些蒙古包是历峰(Richemont)旗下奢侈品牌上海滩(Shanghai Tang)的暂时营业场所，该公司刚刚把位于香港市中心一座殖民地时期建筑、租用了13年之久的旗舰店铺位让与美国时装连锁Abercrombie & Fitch。

“We are inbetween stores. We have become the nomads of Central district,” says Raphael le Masne de Chermont, executive chairman of Shanghai Tang.

上海滩行政主席雷富逸(Raphael le Masne de Chermont)表示：“我们是处于中间状态的店铺。我们已成为中环地区的游牧民。”

The Hong Kong retailer lost out because Abercrombie & Fitch offered the landlord about $1m in rent per month, three times more than Shanghai Tang was paying, real estate agents say.

房地产经纪公司称，这家香港零售商败走的原因是，Abercrombie & Fitch支付的租金为每月约100万美元，是上海滩支付的3倍。

The US retailer is part of an influx of foreign mid-range retailers defying an average 25 per cent increase in retail rent this year to set up shop in the city in an effort to snare the big-spending mainland shopper.

这家美国零售商只是涌入香港的众多外国中端零售商中的一员，它们不顾今年香港零售租金平均上涨25%的事实，毅然选择在香港开店，以吸引出手阔绰的中国内地消费者。

According to CBRE, the real estate agency, retailers in Hong Kong are this year paying on average about $1,700 per square foot per year in prime locations, just behind prime areas in Manhattan, the world’s most expensive shopping district, where landlords charge $1,900 per square foot. Sydney is in third place at $1,224 per square foot.

房地产经纪公司世邦魏理仕(CBRE)称，今年香港黄金地段店铺的平均年租金为每平方英尺1700美元，略低于全球最贵商业区曼哈顿的黄金地段，曼哈顿的租金为每平方英尺1900美元。悉尼位居第三，为1224美元。

Gap, the US clothing retailer, opened its first Hong Kong store last Friday, while fellow US retailers American Eagle Outfitters has already opened and Forever 21 is putting the finishing touches to its first store. Zara and H&M, the European fashion companies, meanwhile, opened in Hong Kong in 2004 and 2007 respectively.

美国服装零售商Gap最近在香港开设了首家门店，其它美国零售商中，美国鹰派服饰(American Eagle Outfitters)已在香港开业，而Forever 21香港首家门店的装修正在进行收尾工作。与此同时，欧洲时装公司Zara和H&M已分别在2004年和2007年在香港开店。

Hong Kong’s retail market is tiny compared with the estimated $2,200bn in China’s total retail spending last year but there are a number of reasons why it is proving a huge draw for retailers.

与中国内地去年2.2万亿美元的零售总额相比，香港零售市场规模较小，但有众多原因让它对零售商构成巨大的吸引力。

There are many businesses in the city that specialise in bringing new brands to the mainland. By having a shop in Hong Kong first and doing well there, brands can attract leading distributors to work with them in China, according to Jason Ding, a Beijing-based partner at Roland Berger, a consultancy.

香港有很多专门将新品牌引入内地的公司。罗兰贝格管理咨询公司(Roland Berger)驻北京合伙人丁杰(Jason Ding)表示，通过先在香港开店并取得良好业绩，这些品牌可以吸引领先批发商与它们在中国内地进行合作。

Furthermore, brands that do well in Hong Kong, China’s most international city, also have a certain cachet and appeal to mainland consumers more than brands that only do well in, say, Shanghai or Beijing, retail analysts say.

另外，零售分析师表示，相比仅仅在上海或北京发展得不错的品牌，在香港做的不错的品牌还会对内地消费者构成一定的威信和吸引力。香港是中国最国际化的城市。

However, it is the sheer number of shoppers coming from north of the border that represent Hong Kong’s main appeal.

然而，来自中国内地的海量消费者才是香港的主要魅力所在。

In 2010, 23m visitors came to Hong Kong from mainland China, a 25 per cent increase on the previous year, and they spent about $13bn in the city, according to the local tourism board. That is 17 times more than the amount Chinese tourists spent in France in the same period.

根据香港旅游发展局(HKTB)的数据，2010年，中国内地赴港游客为2300万，同比增加25%，他们在香港的总花费约为130亿美元。这是同期内地游客在法国花费的17倍。

“I find that prices here are around 20 per cent less than back home in Shanghai, because there is no tax. I am also buying cosmetics and handbags in Hong Kong because the quality is better – you know you are not picking up fakes here!” says one visitor who is on her first trip to the city with her sister.

一位与妹妹首次来香港的内地游客说道：“我发现，这里的价格比上海低20%左右，因为这里没有关税。我还在香港买化妆品和手袋，因为质量更好，你知道，在这里你不会买到假货！”

Such mainland shoppers are playing a large part in the surge in retail sales in the city.

这些内地消费者对于香港零售额的飙升起到了很大作用。

Hong Kong recorded $42bn in retail sales last year, up from $39.9bn in 2009. Their number has increased by 17-28 per cent over the previous six quarters alone, year-on-year, according to government statistics.

香港去年的零售总额为420亿美元，高于2009年的399亿美元。根据政府数据，单单在前6个季度，香港零售总额的同比增幅在17%至28%之间。

Competition is so intense that retailers are struggling to find the right kind of shop space. Many of the best spots are already taken up by luxury brands. Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Armani, and other high-price brands were among the first western retailers to set up flagship stores in Hong Kong in the early 2000s with a firm eye on mainland Chinese demand.

竞争非常激烈，零售商难以找到合适的铺位。很多最佳位置已被奢侈品牌占有。蒂芙尼(Tiffany)、路易威登(LV)和阿玛尼(Armani)等高端品牌是首批在本世纪初在香港开设旗舰店的西方零售商，它们坚定地着眼于中国内地需求。

The absence of a luxury goods tax in the city made the shops an instant success and there are entire streets, such as Canton Road in Kowloon, which are dominated by luxury brands.

香港不征收奢侈品税，这让这些门店立刻获得成功，有些街道（例如香港九龙的广东道）完全都被奢侈品牌统治。

Success in the city has prompted some retailers to tap the demand in the capital markets. Prada, the Italian fashion house, which has eight stores in Hong Kong, raised $2.2bn in a Hong Kong listing this summer, while L’Occitane, the French cosmetics brand, which has 20 stores, raised about $700m last year.

香港的成功促使一些零售商利用资本市场的需求。在香港设有8家门店的意大利时尚品牌普拉达(Prada)，今年夏季在香港上市，筹资22亿美元，而在香港设有20家门店的法国化妆品品牌欧舒丹(L’Occitane)，去年通过在香港上市筹资约7亿美元。

While the two stocks are trading 6 per cent and 8 per cent below their initial public offering prices respectively, investor confidence in the Greater China retail market – mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan – has helped them beat the Hang Seng index, which is down 22 per cent this year.

尽管这两支股票目前的股价分别较首发价下跌6%和8%，但投资者对大中华地区零售市场——中国内地、香港和台湾——的信心仍帮助它们跑赢了恒生(Hang Seng)指数，该指数今年已累计下跌22%。

With more than 90 per cent of global luxury brands already in the city, the latest entrants tend to come from the mid-range segment, according to CBRE.

世邦魏理仕称，如今超过90%的全球奢侈品牌已落户香港，因此，最新一批进入者往往都来自中端市场。

Gap’s new 15,000 sq?ft, four-storey shop in Queen’s Road, the busiest thoroughfare in the business district, was opened just weeks after the group announced a 20 per cent cull of its North American network amid an extended sales slump there.

在Gap宣布北美地区因销售继续滑坡而裁员20%仅几周后，该公司位于香港皇后大道的最新门店开业。该门店面积为1.5万平方英尺，占据了4层楼。皇后大道是香港商业区中环地区最为繁忙的街道。

The retailer opened stores in Shanghai and Beijing almost a year ago. “Hong Kong is one of three key cities for our brand’s introduction to the Chinese market but we needed time to get hold of the right property,” says Steven Sunnucks, head of the San Francisco-based group’s international operations.

Gap近一年前就已在上海和北京开店。这家总部位于旧金山的服装集团的国际业务主管史蒂文?孙纳克斯(Steven Sunnucks)表示：“香港是把我们的品牌引入中国市场的3个关键城市之一，但我们需要时间找到合适的铺位。”

Mr le Masne de Chermont adds: “Hong Kong is the most capitalist place in the world, and it’s all about survival. “Retailers new to the market will soon find out that if they don’t do well, they will end up working for their landlords.”

雷富逸补充称：“香港是全球最具资本主义色彩的地区，在这里一切都是为了生存。新进入这里的零售商很快将发现，如果它们做的不好，它们最终将变成为房东打工。”