Year of the ram batters luxury retailers

World Today

The Year of the Goat is off to a tough start for retailers in Hong Kong, especially luxury retailers. Weak consumer demand from the mainland of China is starting to put Hong Kong’s retailers in a tough spot. Cathy Yang reported this story from Hong Kong.

Year of the Ram batters luxury retailers

The Year of the Ram is off to a tough start for retailers in Hong Kong, especially luxury retailers. Weak consumer demand from the mainland of China is starting to put Hong Kong's retailers in a tough spot. Cathy Yang reported this story from Hong Kong.

Highlights: 

  • Commercial sales have already started to dwindle up to 50 percent since Occupy Central reduced visitor arrivals from the Mainland.
  • The uninspiring sales activity that went on over the Lunar New Year holidays was not unexpected. Analysts said that the protests affected tourist arrivals even before the holidays. But what caught some by surprise – is the extent of the sales declines.
  • The renewed strength in the U.S. currency has been the big deal-breaker. It did not help at all that the Hong Kong currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar which now hovers at its strongest in years. The search for value has driven,
  • This has caused mainland shoppers to travel and shop to countries where local currencies are weaker, such as Japan and Europe, and where they can get more bang out of their buck.

David Dollar on China’s economy
For a more in depth look at China’s economy CCTV spoke with David Dollar, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute.

David Dollar on China's economy

For a more in depth look at China's economy, CCTV spoke with David Dollar, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute.