Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • C.Banner Announces Hamleys First Flagship Store Open in Nanjing

    C.Banner Announces Hamleys First Flagship Store Open in Nanjing

    C.banner International Holdings Limited (“C.banner” or the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”, HK:1028), a leading international integrated retailer and second largest retailer of mid-to-premium women’s formal and leisure footwear in the PRC, yesterday announced the grand opening of the first Hamleys (a centuries old British toy brand) China flagship store in Nanjing.

    The nearly 7,000 sq.m. store is located at Xinjiekou Sanpower Plaza (Nanjing International Finance Center), providing thousands of high quality traditional to high-tech educational items for children of all ages. In addition to the adorable iconic teddy bears from Hamleys, there are also other toy brand collections. Moreover, Hamleys partners with many world-renowned toy brands, such as Hasbro, Mattel, Lego, and others in this “Toy Museum” outlet.

    While providing high quality toys for children’s playtime fun, Hamleys cares a great deal about children’s mental development. Two special party houses have also been designed and built inside Hamleys’ Nanjing flagship store with a host of different themes to choose from. Their professional team is responsible as well for organising distinctive birthday party events for children, providing games, toys, food, and exclusive birthday cakes and birthday gifts. There are also more than 10 entertainment facilities located from the first to the fourth floor, providing interactive games for children of different ages.

    Facilities like remote car racing and shooting games enhance children’s response sensitivity while augmented reality (AR) games utilising technology and magic let children interact with the latest in virtual reality in areas like the “Water Game Zone”, Creative D.I.Y Workshop and Baby Aesthesia Zone. Hamleys uses the finest quality equipment to stimulate children’s sensory responses, allowing them to experience fun and providing memorable interactive games.

    In 2015, C.banner successfully acquired Hamleys, the centuries old British toy shop. Established in 1760, Hamleys is the oldest toy brand in the UK with a glorious history, well-known brand philosophy and high quality toys. It is a veritable “Magic Kingdom” for kids and adults of all ages. Hamleys now embarks on a new journey in Nanjing, China, with a diversified product range and services provided by creative concepts. Based on the Hamleys brand, the Group will design and build a consumer complex comprising various sections, including children’s entertainment, education, clothing, daily necessities, culture and catering.

    Mr. Chen Yixi, Chairman of C.banner said, “The addition of the Hamleys brand will provide a great boost to continuously enhance our Company’s brand value and realise a strong synergy with our existing business operations allowing us to achieve our global development strategy. The store is intended to serve as a template for future store openings as the Company seeks to replicate the unique Hamleys in-store experience with interactive playtime, events and special demonstrations in other populous cities over the PRC.

    “Next year, the Company plans to roll out more stores in core cities with high populations across China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Xuzhou, Hangzhou and others. We will also continue to take full advantage of C.banner’s experience in China’s retailing industry and long-term retail network contacts to rapidly expand Hamleys’ business across the mainland. The Group has full confidence in Hamleys’ development in China, and we feel that we are now on the ground floor of greater opportunities ahead. We look forward with great anticipation to achieving strong business growth.”

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  • Cath Kidston’s new owners are taking on Asia

    Cath Kidston’s new owners are taking on Asia

    Cath Kidston Group has been acquired by Asian private equity company Baring Asia and its chairman is to step down. The lifestyle brand has attained new ownership after its previous majority stakeholder TA Associates sold its shares to Baring Asia, who have now become the controlling majority stakeholders. Paul Mason, who has been chairman of the group for six years, is to step down following the acquisition. He will be replaced by a senior advisor to Baring Asia and former chief executive of Gucci Wiliam Flanz.

    This comes as the brand continues expansion into the Asian market. With 70 per cent of its outlets located outside of the UK, Asia has been a key focus for the group in recent years. Its stores in the region have gone from 91 to 131 since 2014, when Baring Asia first invested in the company. The group was reportedly attracted to the group due to their expertise in the region, and its role as one of the most established private equity firms across Asia.

    It now has plans to open in India in Delhi and Mumbai this autumn.

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  • China cuts cosmetics consumption tax

    China cuts cosmetics consumption tax

    China will reduce or remove consumption tax on all cosmetic products, the finance ministry said on Friday, as the country looks to stimulate domestic spending to help prop up slowing economic growth.

    The new policy will see consumption tax – previously set at 30 percent for all cosmetics – waived entirely for non-luxury cosmetic products, while the tax rate on more expensive cosmetics will be cut to 15 percent, the finance ministry said in a statement.

    The move, which comes into effect from Oct. 1, fits with China’s drive to make products more affordable to domestic shoppers, many of whom have traditionally looked to buy more expensive products overseas because of high tax rates at home.

    The cuts could be of some help to imported cosmetics brands, analysts said, but are unlikely to have a major or immediate impact because other steep tariffs mean prices domestically will remain high compared to markets overseas.

    “Cosmetic brands could benefit mildly from the tax reduction with more competitive pricing,” said Jefferies analyst Jessie Guo in a note on Friday. She added, though, that it would only “moderately” boost domestic demand.

    Last year, the ministry slashed import taxes on products from skin care to shoes in a bid to “push forward structural reform” as the country looks to shift its economy to consumption from flagging manufacturing and exports.

    The head of the world’s largest advertising firm, Martin Sorrell, said on Thursday the business environment in China was the toughest he had seen in around three decades, especially hitting international brands.

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  • McDonald’s Philippines in massive expansion plan

    McDonald’s Philippines in massive expansion plan

    The McDonald’s Philippines network is set to nearly double by 2020.

    Parent Alliance Global Group (AGI) says it will reach 500 outlets by the end of 2016 – and it plans to open another 400 restaurants between 2017 and 2020.

    The plan was revealed during a briefing of AGI’s broader plan to boost its commercial and retail businesses with a special focus on regions outside Luzon where the pace of economic growth is gaining speed.

    “We have already laid out the foundation and made significant investments across all our business segments, both here and abroad, in order to future-proof our growth,” said Andrew Tan, founder of AIG, during a shareholder briefing.

    The broader AGI retail portfolio will be expanded from 236,000 sqm currently to 633,000 sqm during the next five years, meaning an annual addition of 80,000 sqm, three times the 25,000 sqm added between 2010 and 2015.

    Expanding the McDonald’s store network nationwide will take advantage of a widespread improvement in consumer demand, he said.

    AGI president and COO Kingson U Sian described the township developments of AGI subsidiary Megaworld as “a platform for the conglomerate to take advantage of the government’s thrust to develop the provinces”.

    “These 3000 hectares that we have for 21 townships – 90 per cent of that is actually outside Metro Manila. So, clearly we are already well positioned if government develops or invests or encourages more development outside Metro Manila,” he said.

    “If growth is spurred in Visayas and Mindanao – a sleeping giant – if we can create more interest and infrastructure spending in the south, then that would obviously increase. We believe if we do it properly, maybe from 6-7 per cent we can grow at a faster clip because now we have three engines of growth,” Sian said.

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  • Vietnam, Indonesia to lead Southeast Asian eCommerce

    Vietnam, Indonesia to lead Southeast Asian eCommerce

    Vietnam and Indonesia are tipped to become the largest Southeast Asian eCommerce markets within the next five years.

    Stunning growth in both markets is predicted in a report by global research company Frost & Sullivan which expects the broader region’s eCommerce market to double within five years.

    By 2020, the total revenue from B2C eCommerce in the six largest Southeast Asian countries, including Viet Nam is expected to grow at nearly 18 per cent, from US$11.2 billion in 2015 to $25.2 billion.

    Growth will be driven by an astounding rate of digital adoption, young and tech-savvy consumers, and increasing disposable incomes.

    Vietnam already has

    There are 127 million SIMs in circulation in Vietnam and nearly 40 million active internet users.

    “eCommerce players are beginning to compete beyond price points and logistics and moving into new areas such as Online-to-Offline (O2O) e-commerce and loyalty programmes,” says Cris Duy Tran, lead consultant in eCommerce and digital transformation at Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific.

    But he says eCommerce companies face significant challenges across the markets with many existing players struggling to achieve profitability. He singled out the failure of Foodpanda in VIetnam and Groupon in Thailand and the Philippines. Low levels of credit card ownership and distribution challenges also made it difficult to run online businesses profitably.

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  • The top 10 cosmetics brands in China

    The top 10 cosmetics brands in China

    China’s top 10 selling cosmetics brands have been revealed.

    A report by Kantar Worldpanel concludes the beauty market remains buoyant in China over the first half of 2016 with brands battling it out for market share.

    The cosmetics sector is a major driver of growth in the FMCG market in China. The skincare and colour make-up sector grew by 12 per cent and 10 per cent respectively in the year to June 2016, far higher than the overall 3.1 per cent growth rate of the total FMCG industry.

    Kantar says the value growth is due to Chinese consumers becoming more sophisticated in their selection of beauty products, migrating to premium products.

    This also presents brand new opportunities to both international and domestic players.

    In its 2016 Cosmetics Brand Footprint ranking, Kantar Worldpanel reveals the top 10 best-selling brands in China.

    Dabao leads the ranking with 23.1 per cent of the population choice, on average twice a year, meaning Dabao products were put into shoppers baskets 76.7 million times during the year.

    Pechoin occupies second place and was the fastest riser in terms of consumer touch points, adding more than 3.6 million families to its brand over the last 12 months.

    The next eight places are revealed in the chart below.

    Top 10 cosmetics brands in China

    Despite strong growth, China’s cosmetics market remains incredibly competitive.

    Of the 4000 brands tracked by Kantar Worldpanel, only 40 per cent of them saw an increase in net sales.

    Amongst the top 20 growing brands in the market, a rise in penetration contributed 78 per cent to their collective growth, proving that the continual recruitment of shoppers is the key way to grow sales.

    “Consumers today have unprecedented choices available to them thanks to overseas travel and eCommerce, yet the growth of Chinese brands and Korean/Japanese brands are noticeable,” said Jason Yu, GM at Kantar Worldpanel.

    Brands who advocate health, efficacy and fun are winning consumers’ choices, on the back of unique product and marketing innovation as well as smart Omni-Channel deployment.

    Other key conclusions from the Kantar Worldpanel study include:

    • Premiumisation drove 82 per cent of the market’s total growth.
    • Essence will be the next star segment – products at different price points with different functions are appealing to young consumers.
    • There is still significant potential to drive trials of colour cosmetics, and cushion is becoming the point of market entry.
    • Consumers are embracing natural and safe product concepts.
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  • Toyota, Daihatsu to set up joint emerging markets company

    Toyota, Daihatsu to set up joint emerging markets company

    Toyota Motor Corp on Tuesday said it will set up a joint internal company with subsidiary Daihatsu to develop and market compact vehicles in emerging markets, as Toyota aims to expand market share in other Asian markets.

    The Japanese automaker plans to establish the new unit in January, it said in a statement, adding that its operations would be led by compact carmaker Daihatsu, a Toyota group company which was absorbed by the automaker earlier this year.

    Daihatsu will be responsible for development, procurement and production preparations for compact cars while the two companies will use existing production sites to manufacture the compact vehicles.

    Toyota said the companies were considering possible markets including Vietnam, India and Pakistan.

    “With the establishment of the internal company, Toyota intends to learn the very fundamentals of Daihatsu’s competitiveness and change the way we work,” Toyota Executive Vice President Shigeki Terashi said in a statement.

    The companies intend to develop Daihatsu into a global brand as they focus on growing markets for entry-level compact cars, which are becoming smaller and energy efficient due to environmental and traffic concerns.

    Daihatsu holds around a 16 percent market share of the passenger car market in Indonesia, where it manufactures the Ayla and other vehicles in a joint venture with Astra International. In Malaysia, it operates a joint venture which has a market share of around 32.5 percent.

  • DHL, UN hold airport disaster preparedness workshops in Indonesia

    DHL, UN hold airport disaster preparedness workshops in Indonesia

    Germany’s Deutsche Post DHL Group and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are once again conducting their joint preventative training, known as Get Airports Ready for Disaster (GARD), at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport, Lombok International Airport and Selaparang Airport in Lombok.  Indonesia was the pilot country when the program was implemented globally in 2009 — in Makassar and Palu.

    Deutsche Post DHL Group and United Nations Development Programme Hold Airport Disaster Preparedness Workshops in Bali and Lombok. L-R: Teguh Pratomo (MoT); Medi Herlianto (BNPB); Christian Usfinit (UNDP); Welani Widjaja, Managing Director, DHL Global Forwarding Indonesia; Chris Weeks, Director of Humanitarian Affairs, Deutsche Post DHL Group.

    Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire where several continental plates collide. As a result, the chain of islands is at frequent risk of earthquakes, tsunamis and active volcanoes. Additionally, Bali and Lombok are categorized as high risk areas in the Indonesian Disaster Risk Index (2013). Airports in both provinces experienced operations shutdown due to volcanic eruptions from nearby Mount Rinjani.

    The multi-day workshop involves over 50 participants — including representatives from the airport operating company, aviation safety experts, national and regional Disaster Management Planning Agencies, Indonesian Red Cross, immigration authorities, the military and the police force — who will be trained to handle the high volume of incoming relief goods and increasing number of passengers during the aftermath of natural disasters.

    “Following natural disasters, airports become vital hubs for the processing of incoming relief supplies,” says Christof Ehrhart, Head of Corporate Communications and Responsibility at Deutsche Post DHL Group. “With sound processes in place at the airport and with the relevant agencies, relief goods and aid can be channeled through airports to reach the affected communities quickly and efficiently. This program continues to help improve disaster management in this geologically high-risk region.”

    “Often airports are unprepared to manage large disasters or humanitarian crisis and as a result, assistance gets slower in getting to those most affected. GARD is working specifically with all partners on the ground to solve any potential bottlenecks that could impede fast response to save lives. I praise the Indonesian government for its commitment to preparedness and the airport authorities for their risk informed management,” says United Nations Resident Coordinator in Indonesia, Douglas Broderick.

    The training includes evaluation of the airports’ capacities for processing high volumes of passengers and cargo and warehousing relief supplies. Location-specific disaster plans are drawn up as well.

    Since 2009, GARD trainings have been held in eight airports in Indonesia, namely Sultan Hassanuddin Airport in Makassar (2009), Mutiara Airport in Palu (2009), Ngurah Rai Airport (old airport) in Denpasar (2011), El Tari Airport in Kupang (2011), Polonia Airport in Medan (2012), Sultan Iskandarsyah Airport inBanda Aceh (2012), Fatmawati Airport in Bengkulu (2012) and Minangkabau Airport in Padang (2013).

  • More than half on online viewing done on mobile devices

    More than half on online viewing done on mobile devices

    Mobile devices, for the first time, now account for more than half of all online viewing, and compares video engagement between iOS versus Android users, according to the second-quarter 2016 Global Video Index from Ooyala.

    The report continues a quarterly analysis of the growth of programmatic trading, as well as highlights how subscription services can reduce churn.

    Findings show that heavy users visit advertising video-on demand (AVOD) news sites 37% more during the work week than on weekends, according to the second-quarter.

    These “power users” also prefer computers to consume content for longer periods, compared to the average user who uses a mobile phone.

    As for AVOD entertainment sites, power users watch 17% more content on Thursdays and Fridays than Monday through Wednesday, and 37% more than on Saturday and Sunday.

    Also, for subscription VOD (SVOD) entertainment sites, 76% of power users visit two to three days a week, with peak viewing occurring Friday and Saturday. Mondays see the least traffic from power users.

    In transaction-based VOD (TVOD) sites, power users produce the slowest traffic early in the week, but on the weekend stream about 13 times more content than during the week.

    For the first time, mobile devices now represent more than half of all online viewing, reaching nearly 51%. This is a 15% increase from one year ago and 203% from 2014.

    Smartphones made up 43% of all video views, a 10% increase from one year ago, while tablets made up the other 8%, which is a 51% increase from the same time period.

    “The findings in the report further manifest the utmost importance of having a proper analytics solution that gives granular insight into your video business,” said Belsasar Lepe, Ooyala co-founder and SVP of products and solutions.

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  • Minister asks Garuda to be more aggressive in international market

    Minister asks Garuda to be more aggressive in international market

    Minister for State-Owned Enterprises Rini Sumarno has asked national carrier PT Garuda Indonesia to act more aggressively, especially in promoting itself in both local and international markets.

    “The Minister asked us to continue to enhance our synergy with other state-owned enterprises in expanding Garudas infrastructure and services,” said CEO of Garuda Indonesia Arif Wibowo, after a meeting with Minister Rini Sumarno in the Ministrys offices in Jakarta, Tuesday.

    During the meeting, which was also attended by the Ministrys Deputy of Finance, Survey and Consulting Gatot Trihargo, Garuda was asked to be more aggressive in their future development, including by strongly cooperating with their subsidiary business, Citilink.

    “To dominate the domestic, regional and international market, Minister Rini Sumarno emphasized the importance of connecting time between flights, as well as adding more routes to the existing ones, especially to tourist destinations,” he added.

    In relation to that, he further explained that the airline is planning to open a new route from Jakarta to Labuan Bajo, East Nusa.

    “Direct flights from Jakarta to Labuan Bajo, East Nusa will officially start Oct 27. A route to the same destination has actually been operating from Denpasar, Bali. The new route from the capital city to Labuan Bajo can become the bridge to direct connections to our international routes,” he reiterated.

    In its initial phase, the new route from Jakarta to Labuan Bajo will operate daily at 10 am.

    “If the demand for it continues to rise, we can then add more flight times there,” he remarked.

    According to the Ministers directives that seeks additional domestic, regional and international flights, he said, the airline have brought in 50 Boeing737 MAX airplanes, while Citilink brought in 50 Airbus A320 airplanes.

    “We need to be more aggressive in adding more narrow body airplanes, in order to strengthen our domestic networks,” he stated.

    On the same occasion, Garuda and Citilinks market share also moved forward, as it is hoped to reach 50 percent in the domestic market, compared to its value at the moment, which is 44 percent.

    “The Minister wants us to also dominate the domestic market. We are asked to calculate it in detail, so we can reach that target. As for the international market, Garuda is targeted to dominate 50 percent of the Chinese and Middle Eastern markets, whereas, at the moment, we hold about 38 percent of it,” he noted.

    Additionally, the national carrier will open a new international route from Denpasar, Bali to Chengdu, China starting January 2017.

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  • BT, Microsoft “simplify” hybrid cloud

    BT, Microsoft “simplify” hybrid cloud

    BT has announced the availability of BT Compute for Microsoft Azure, a new service that allows BT customers to order Microsoft Azure alongside BT’s own cloud services.

    The service enables customers to build hybrid cloud infrastructure with a single service wrap, contract and on a single bill.

    BT customers already use private and public cloud services – also known as hybrid cloud – hosted in BT Compute’s 48 data center globally.

    With BT acting as their cloud services integrator, and by using CMS, customers can manage their cloud services end-to-end from data center to network, maximizing the benefits and minimizing the complexity, risk and costs of moving to the cloud. Using local delivery with global scale allows BT to meet the evolving needs of organizations for cloud services and at the same time address the complexity of regulatory requirements.

    Integration of Microsoft Azure into the CMS expands the choice for BT customers. They gain access to Microsoft’s rapidly growing collection of integrated cloud services, including Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) computing capabilities.

    Neil Lock, VP BT compute at global services, said “Hybrid cloud has become a major focus for many large enterprises as they choose a variety of cloud solutions to suit their complex business needs.”

    “In fact, BT research suggests that 90% of its largest customers expect to be using a combination of public and private cloud in the next few years. Through our relationship with Microsoft, customers can build their own hybrid cloud environment and enjoy the benefits of Azure whilst removing costly management concerns from the equation,” the executive said.

    The service will be available during the final quarter of the year.

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  • Property Report Congress Indonesia 2016 to debut in Jakarta

    Property Report Congress Indonesia 2016 to debut in Jakarta

    With Indonesia’s affluent middleclass and millionaire population growing rapidly amidst a temporary slowdown in the property market, there is great interest from local and regional industry players and experts on how Indonesia’s property sector can face its current challenges and how it will evolve in the future.

    Some of these experts will be at the inaugural Property Report Congress Indonesia 2016 , the acclaimed conference series hosted by Property Report, Asia’s leading luxury real estate, architecture and design media platform.

    The wholeday event will bring together experts from Indonesia and around the region to discuss the current state of the Indonesian real estate market. It will be held on 13 October, from 08:00 to 16:00 at the Fairmont Jakarta, supported by official property portal Rumah.com , Indonesia’s leading property website.

    Confirmed speakers include the who’s who of the industry and the government, including conference chairman Todd Lauchlan, country head of Jones Lang LaSalle Indonesia.

    The opening keynote address will be given by Hendra Hartono, chief executive officer of Leads Property Services Indonesia and chairman of the Indonesia Property Awards 2016 judging panel. Hartono has been tapped to give a 2016 market overview and lead a panel discussion called “What it takes to develop a luxury project.”

    Mr Bambang Brodjonegoro, the Minister of National Development Planning of Indonesia, will talk about how Indonesia’s government is supporting the real estate industry in his keynote speech.

    Panel moderators at the Jakarta leg of the conference series include: Mina Ondang, director, Cushman & Wakefield (“How the MRT could transform Jakarta real estate”); Mink Tan, chief designer/registered architect, MINKKE Architects (“The rise of stateoftheart architecture in Indonesia”); and Paulius Kuncinas, regional editor, Oxford Business Group (“What tax and the law can do improve the Indonesian real estate market”). In addition to the panel sessions, there will be a workshop on “The content marketing sweet spot and how to find it,” to be facilitated by digital strategist Ian Payton, founder of Hashtagcontent.com. Paynton

    has shared his content marketing insights at the previous Property Report Congress events in Vietnam,Myanmar and Malaysia.

    Jaime Rivera, Asia regional director at Crystal Lagoons, official sponsor of the Indonesia Property Awards 2016, in turn will talk about waterbased technology and how it can increase interest in property developments in the region. A worldrecord holder for the largest manmade lagoon, Crystal Lagoons’ first project in ASEAN was in Bali.

    Conference delegates will have a chance to meet and learn from Asia’s industry leaders who are redefining the Indonesian property landscape. Panelists will be coming from Jakarta and overseas. As always, the opening and closing remarks will be given by Liam Aran Barnes, brand director and editor in chief of Property Report. “We’re bringing our conference series to Jakarta at a time when the Indonesian government is looking for various means to implement programmes to boost the sluggish domestic market ,” Barnes said. “This is

    one of the ways that our publication can support Indonesia’s property sector apart from the annual Indonesia Property Awards.” Since debuting in Singapore in October 2015, five successful Property Report Congress events have been held in Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Yangon, Kuala Lumpur and most recently in Bangkok, which welcomed the series’ biggest audience in 2016 of about 140 delegates, speakers and media.

    Property Report Congress has been described as “a great networking event and platform for people in the real estate industry to come together and share ideas,” according to Bertil De Kleynen, sector director for Architecture, Interiors & Landscape at Atkins Global, and featured speaker at the Ho Chi Minh City conference.

    Organised by PropertyGuru, Asia’s leading online property portal group, the Property Report Congress will be followed by the annual Indonesia Property Awards 2016 blacktie gala dinner in the evening, from 18:00 to 22:30, which will be attended by 300 of the country’s top real estate developers, executives and industry professionals.

    For registration and enquiries, email conference director at [email protected] or visit

    the official website: https://www.AsiaPropertyAwards.com/Congress/

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  • Amazon launches new Fire TV stick with Alexa remote

    Amazon launches new Fire TV stick with Alexa remote

    Amazon has unveiled the all-new Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote, touted as the most powerful streaming media stick available.

    The company said the next generation Fire TV Stick is up to 30% faster than the original version, and offers access to over 300,000 movies and TV episodes, and includes the Alexa Voice Remote.

    The only streaming media stick with a voice remote, the new Fire TV Stick is available for pre-order and will begin shipping to United States customers on October 20.

    Eligible customers who purchase and activate their device by October 31 will also receive a free content package worth up to$65, including one month of Sling TV, two months of Hulu, and a $10 credit for Amazon Video to rent or purchase new releases or old favorites.

    “With more than 120,000 reviews and a 4.2 star rating, our customers made the Fire TV Stick the most reviewed product ever on Amazon,” said Marc Whitten, VP at Amazon Fire TV.

    “The new Amazon Fire TV Stick has been completely redesigned with incredible performance, powerful voice search and the included Alexa-powered remote to deliver instant access to a vast selection of movies, TV shows, games and Alexa skills,” said Whitten.

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  • Lee Gardens Unveils Hong Kong’s First Floor-Less “Tennis in the Air”

    Lee Gardens Unveils Hong Kong’s First Floor-Less “Tennis in the Air”

    As the official shopping mall partner of the Hong Kong Tennis Open 2016, the entire Lee Gardens is transforming into Hong Kong’s Coolest Tennis Court from 30 September to 16 October. Throughout this period, you will have the opportunity to experience an exciting array of tennis-related activities and kick off your start to a healthier and active lifestyle. Thanks to the joint efforts of Lee Gardens and its merchants, over HK$1,000,000 worth of prizes are up for grabs!

    Lee Gardens (including Hysan Place, Lee Garden One – Six, 25 Lan Fong Road, Lee Theatre, Leighton, I.T Hysan One) is dedicated to providing the best work-life balance in town.

    Air Tennis Mobile Game – Swing and Win (27 September – 16 October)

    Warm up with the Air Tennis Mobile Game, where you can use your cell phone to “serve” a tennis ball and try to hit prize targets. Successful hits will help win instant reward e-coupons for exciting gifts or shopping discounts or tickets for the VR 360 Tennis in the Air, or. You can play the game at airtennis.leegardens.com.hk.

    VR 360 Tennis in the Air – Be the First to Play a Match Mid-Air, High Above Victoria Harbour (30 September – 16 October)

    With the assistance of a VR headset and two hand-held controllers, this game will “transport” you from the 1/F Atrium of Hysan Place to a tennis court high in the skies above Victoria Harbour. With 360º views of Hong Kong’s beautiful scenery during the day, an intoxicating night view after 6pm, and the sound of a gentle breeze in the background, you and your opponent will experience a thrilling simulated game of “tennis in the air”. You can enjoy this VR experience either by using a prize ticket or upon spending HK$100 at Lee Gardens.

    Bounce for Tennis – Create Fun Mementos and Contribute to Children’s Sports Education (30 September – 16 October)

    Lee Gardens invites you to create mementos of your experience by uploading a photo and designing your own personalised tennis ball via the airtennis.leegardens.com.hk. For HK$50, you can print out your customised tennis ball at the Lee Theatre. The proceeds of the Bounce for Tennis programme will benefit the Hong Kong Tennis Association, a non-governmental organisation and organiser of the Hong Kong Tennis Open, to help support their initiative to popularise sports education in under-resourced districts by teaching local children to play tennis.

    Special Tennis-Themed Food and Drinks – Enjoy the Tournament as a Foodie (30 September – 16 October)

    During this event, many of Lee Gardens’ exciting dining venues, including Shelter Italian Bar & Restaurant, Wired Café, Seasons, Smile Yoghurt and Habitu, will be serving up tennis-themed delights for their visitors.

    Fan Zone – Cheers for the Climax (15 – 16 October)

    Besides enjoying the live matches at Victoria Park Tennis Stadium, tennis fans can make their way over to a specially designated Fan Zone on Pak Sha Road to take part in live-streamed matches, extending the excitement from the Tennis Stadium to “The Coolest Tennis Court” in Causeway Bay. Organised by Hong Kong Tennis Association and supported Wan Chai District Council’s Cultural and Leisure Services Committee, as well as by  Lee Gardens Association, the fan zone will be open to the public during the Semi Finals and Finals of the tournament, which will take place on 15 and 16 October.

    Instant Rewards

    Lee Gardens has joined hands with its merchants to give out coupons and gifts valued at more than HK$1,000,000, including a Fila gift set (value over HK$1,800), UNIQLO gift set (value HK$1,000), Pressed Juice One Day Cleanse (value HK$550) and more. Rewards are available for all players, so come down to Lee Gardens and have fun playing!

    FILA Exclusive Pop-up Store

    FILA will set up a Pop-up store decorated as a container house exclusively for the event, displaying its distinguished history of tennis culture since 1911. You can appreciate the precious Settanta Polo T-shirt co-designed by FILA and Wallpaper saluting Björn Borg, one of the greatest tennis athletes from 1970s to 1980s. Printed between every stripe on the Polo T-shirt is the score of his champion matches. Various pieceis of other tennis apparel are also available in the exclusive Pop-up store.

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  • GMR Hyderabad International Airport Hosts Island Café & Bar

    GMR Hyderabad International Airport Hosts Island Café & Bar

    GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL) offers a new and exciting chill-out zone for passengers at Hyderabad Airport. Island Café & Bar by HMSHost is now available at International departures offering passengers the exciting options of food and beverages (F&B) in an innovatively carved out ambience making their visit at Hyderabad Airport worth cherishing. Island Café & Bar offers the customers delectable coffee, fresh juices, snacks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks & light bites.

    Uniqueness of Island Café & Bar lies in the fact that it is an in-house brand conceptualized and created jointly by HMSHost and the Commercial Team of GHIAL. HMSHost operates F&B outlets at Hyderabad Airport at Departure (International and Domestic) levels. HMSHost is a part of renowned global conglomerate Auto grill SPA and is the leading F&B Operator at hundreds of Airports across the globe.  They offer expertise in travel F&B and presence only in Airports. 

     Speaking on the occasion, Mr. SGK Kishore, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, said, “Island Café & Bar at Hyderabad Airport is a novel platform for passengers to enjoy F&B options. I appreciate GHIAL team and HMSHost for innovatively creating this platform for our customers. Island Café & Bar gives our visitors a whole new experience while they can enjoy the myriad options of food & beverages. The tastefully designed ambience of Island Café & Bar makes the passengers’ visit to the Hyderabad Airport even more memorable.” 

    Island Café & Bar is a new and exciting concept at Hyderabad Airport. It has been creatively designed keeping the interests of all segments of visitors at the airport offering a vast range of food, coffee and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. There is an aesthetic play with lights in this section of F&B. Embellished by a combination of pendants lighting subdues the brightness level in this space, which evokes an intimate and cozy feeling during the day and creates a bar type ambience by night.

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