We began our day at 10am, refreshed and ready to go after a good night’s sleep. Our first stop was Harbour City, a luxury goods shopping center. Many Chinese citizens take the ferry here to shop for luxury brands such as Burberry, Gucci, Fendi, and Prada. We had the great opportunity to stop into Kent & Curwen, a part of the Trinity group that is fully owned and operated by Li & Fung. The store manager has a lot of experience in the luxury goods market and was able to share the current retail climate in Asia, from a Kent & Curwen perspective. With over 20 million tourists visiting per year, Hong Kong is the epicenter of retail growth.
Serving as a complete lifestyle brand, Kent & Curwen currently runs 130 stores in 63 cities, primarily in Asia. The manager further explained the brand’s customer base as a 40-55 year old male shopper, though this is slightly shifting toward a younger demographic. In addition, the manager concluded that Kent & Curwen’s success stems from its authentic history and heritage, which is something no other company can copy. The brand also has a signature look on the inside coat pocket, seen in the picture below. This diagonal pattern further differentiates Kent & Curwen from its competition.
Next, we took a quick look at another Li & Fung store in Harbour City, Toys R Us. We had the opportunity to explore the newly renovated 37,000 sq ft store. This location specifically was the first Toys R Us store in Hong Kong. After this short visit, we were given two hours to walk around and see the numerous luxury brand stores in the mall.
After our visit to Harbour City, we drove through the hilly island up to the iconic Big Buddha. This 250 ton bronze statue stands on Lantau Island, the biggest island in Hong Kong. We climbed the 268 stairs all the way up to enjoy breathtaking views of the mountain terrain and historical site.
On the way to our last stop, we drove past Jackie Chan’s hillside estate and stopped at Repulse Bay Beach, which means “longevity bay.” We were happily ahead of schedule at this stop because of less traffic on the roads due to Qingming Festival, a public holiday in Hong Kong. An interesting fact about this holiday is that Chinese citizens can now pay to have their ancestors’ graves swept for them, or for an additional $300, the service can include crying!
To end our day, we boarded a buffet-style dinner boat cruise. The cruise included a tour of the harbor and a light show put on by the city’s skyscrapers. This is a daily attraction for both Hong Kong visitors and residents. After our enjoying the endless dessert bar, we ended the night with the chance to show off our dance moves (even including a few of the trip’s advisors).
1 comment:
Sounds to be a really interesting and also much fascinating product...
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