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Tag: Chow Sang Sang

  • Chow Sang Sang Joins Forces With Nuvei For North American Market Expansion

    Chow Sang Sang Joins Forces With Nuvei For North American Market Expansion

    Hong Kong’s renowned luxury jewellery brand, Chow Sang Sang, has announced its foray into the North American market. This expansion is made possible through a strategic partnership with Nuvei, an international payments company.

    Genevieve Chow, the Chief Brands Officer at Chow Sang Sang, shed light on the decision to collaborate with Nuvei. She explained that the company was chosen for its localised, secure and seamless payment system. “As we embark on our international expansion, particularly targeting North America, it’s crucial for us to have a payments partner that upholds our commitment to excellence,” she said.

    Nuvei’s platform is set to provide Chow Sang Sang with opportunities to penetrate into 50 markets. It also extends support for over 150 currencies and 720 alternative payment methods. This comprehensive system directly connects to global card networks, enhancing the approval rates and minimising payment friction.

    “Nuvei’s cutting-edge technology, local expertise, and global reach equip us to provide the premium experience our customers anticipate, both online and in-store,” Chow further stated.

    Nuvei’s recent attainment of a Money Services Operator (MSO) license in Hong Kong strengthens its position. The license enables Nuvei to offer local acquiring and settlement services in the market. This significant move supports Nuvei’s broader expansion goals in the Asia-Pacific region, including Greater China, Japan, Singapore and Australia.

    Phil Fayer, CEO of Nuvei, expressed his outlook on the partnership with Chow Sang Sang. He said, “Luxury brands like Chow Sang Sang are destined for global growth. With our MSO license and the expanding footprint in the APAC region, we’re excited to support the region’s most promising companies with payment technology designed for scalability.”

    Chow Sang Sang is a significant player in the luxury jewellery market, operating over 900 self-run stores spread across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Its portfolio includes notable brands such as Chow Sang Sang, Promessa, MintyGreen, and Emphasis.

    Questions & Answers

    What is the significance of Chow Sang Sang’s partnership with Nuvei?
    The partnership enables Chow Sang Sang to expand its operations into North America, backed by Nuvei’s seamless and secure payment system.

    What advantages does Nuvei’s platform offer to Chow Sang Sang?
    Nuvei’s platform provides access to 50 markets, supports over 150 currencies and 720 alternative payment methods, and directly connects with global card networks, improving approval rates and reducing payment friction.

    What does Nuvei’s recent acquisition of a MSO license mean for the company?
    The MSO license empowers Nuvei to offer local acquiring and settlement services in the Hong Kong market, supporting its broader expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.

  • 50 more Chow Sang Sang stores to be launched this year

    50 more Chow Sang Sang stores to be launched this year

    With a focus on urban markets, Chow Sang Sang Holdings International plans to open around 50 stores this year.

    While consumer sentiment improved in the second half of last year for the jewellery retailer, it says a strong recovery is yet to be seen, especially in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, global markets are already anticipating an interest rate rise, and international trade disputes seem to be looming.

    In Hong Kong, the company will continue with the realignment of its network to match the change in consumer patterns and preferences. Overall, it expects to reduce the amount of floor space with no significant changes in the number of shops.

    “In China, increasing sophistication in consumer behaviour provides opportunity for growth via product and brand differentiation. As our online competition heats up, we are putting more effort into offering a seamless customer experience.”

    Turnover last year grew 3 per cent to HK$16.6 billion (US$2.1 billion). The disposal of a part of a long-term holding of shares in Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing resulted in a gain of $114 million. Including this amount, the group’s overall profit attributable to equity holders increased by 18 per cent to $876 million.

    After dropping for three consecutive years, jewellery retail turnover returned to positive growth, rising 3 per cent. Jewellery retail accounted for 87 per cent of the group’s turnover.

    Operating profit fell by 5 per cent to $902 million, because of an extra gain of $176 million in 2016 resulting from a movement in the price of gold.

    Sales slipped per cent in Hong Kong and Macau, affected by shop closures. Same-store sales growth was down 2 per cent, mainly because of soft turnover of gold in the fourth quarter.

    Sales of gem-set jewellery improved in the second half, and in the last quarter reversed its downward trend since 2016.

    During the year, four Chow Sang Sang shops and one watch branch in the tourist district were closed. However, three new shops and one new watch branch were established in non-tourist districts.

    Despite Macau’s tourist traffic improving, shops in the shopping arcades performed worse than the main-street shop.

    Total turnover in Mainland China rose 9 per cent year-on-year to $8 billion. In RMB terms, this was 11 per cent growth, and same-store sales rose 5 per cent.

    Online sales continued to grow, accounting for about 14 per cent of China sales. Gold products dominated the sales mix.

    At the end of the year, the group had 422 shops in 119 cities. Of these 63 were new outlets, and there were 15 closings. Of the new stores, 28 were set up in shopping malls.

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  • Hong Kong retail start recovering

    Hong Kong retail start recovering

    A “steady if cautious” Hong Kong retail recovery is clearly underway, according to a report from Savills released today.

    “The retail sector is slowly coming to life after four years of painful adjustment which has seen the emergence of a ‘tenant’s market’, a rare occurrence in Hong Kong’s landlord-dominated retail scene,” observed Simon Smith, head of research and consultancy with Savills.

    Over recent months, he said, retailers have been taking the opportunity to upgrade for little or no extra cost and examples include Pandora which moved within IFC Mall and Hourglass, which runs Patek Philippe, relocating within Tsim Sha Tsui from the Imperial Hotel to a better site in the Holiday Inn.

    In further evidence of upgrade demand, Harry Winston has taken the space previously occupied by Ferragamo in the Mandarin Hotel and will open in early 2018. Alternatively, retailers are cutting overheads as they find that renewal negotiations are yielding significant savings as landlords discover a new pragmatism.As reported, Topshop has renewed the lease on its Queen’s Road Central store at a discount of about 50 per cent.

    While landlords of high street shops remain on the back foot, larger shopping centres, such as  Harbour City, IFC Mall and New Town Plaza, are proving relatively immune to the downtown, says Smith.

    In IFC Mall, Italian menswear brand Boggi opened recently while Brunello Cucinelli has launched a new flagship in the same mall.

    “As street-shop rents have fallen heavily while centre rents have only seen a minor adjustment, the gap between the two has narrowed considerably and tenants are now finding that a prime street front pitch can be a viable alternative to taking space in a nearby mall. This is the narrowest the gap has been since 2009 and represents a return to the norm after seven years of major gains in street shop rents.”

    Strength in regions

    Savills also notes that regional and district malls such as Popcorn in Tseung Kwan O and Tuen Mun Town Plaza are doing relatively well.

    “Hong Kong’s tight geography, excellent transport infrastructure and dense retail environment has helped this type of mall defend against the threat from online. The appeal of air conditioned spaces in the summer months and the lure of enhanced F&B offerings have also helped boost the appeal of local malls. We have also seen landlords putting more effort into marketing campaigns with better events, more pop-up stores and creative TV and online advertising,” said Smith.

    “Most malls now have a very well-established cyber-presence via websites and apps. Click-and-collect is making some limited headway locally, with brands such as Zara, Burberry, L’Occitane, Watson’s Wine, Chow Sang Sang and Starbucks all offering the service.

    “In a mixed market some trade categories are performing well and pharmacies in particular are expanding aggressively at the moment. Not every landlord wants them but they are often prepared to pay above-market rents. F&B is also out-performing, driven in part by a richly valued stock market and rising wages.”

    Nick Bradstreet, head of retail with Savills, said luxury fashion is turning around in Hong Kong even though brands have been closing stores in Macau and Mainland China over the past year or so. Luxury sales in China have actually surged over the past six to nine months.

    “Cosmetics retailers are reporting fairly stable business, but after a period of rapid expansion, many brands are still culling store numbers. Electrical goods retailers are consolidating in what is a very competitive marketplace,” he said.

    Savills prime street shop rental indices remained flat over the third quarter while rents in prime malls continued to drift off marginally. The latest September retail sales figures from government recorded a seventh consecutive month of rises attributable in part to a strong inbound tourist numbers. Jewellery, watches, clocks and valuable gift sales outperformed, rising by 14.7 per cent year-on-year, with strong growth also noted for medicines, cosmetics and Chinese drugs.

  • Chow Sang Sang hit by $24 million smash-and-grab

    Chow Sang Sang hit by $24 million smash-and-grab

    Three thieves fled on a motorbike with HK$24 million (US$3 million) worth of jewellery after smashing Chow Sang Sang Jewellery’s store window with hammers in one of Hong Kong’s busiest shopping districts about 10am yesterday.

    Police have mounted a citywide manhunt following the 10-second Tsim Sha Tsui smash-and-grab raid at Silvercord shopping arcade on Canton Road.

    Nine pieces of jewellery were snatched, says Yau Tsim police district chief inspector Frances Lee King-hei. The most expensive item was worth about $10 million.

    Lee says two of the robbers used sledgehammers to smash the display window before jumping on a getaway motorbike driven by the third man. The motorcycle, which did not have a number plate, sped off and was last seen turning on to Peking Road.

    Lee says the trio left an empty suitcase and a paper bag at the scene.

    She says police are reviewing security footage to gather evidence and to determine if the gang has links to previous robberies.

    Police say two of the perpetrators were wearing face masks and hats while the third had a motorcycle helmet. They made their move soon after staff members at the shop took the valuables from a vault and put them on display.

    “The stolen property includes a diamond necklace, jade earrings, a diamond bracelet and diamond rings,” says a police spokesman.

    The incident comes six months after a masked robber took just seven seconds to smash open a display window with a hammer and make off with a diamond ring worth $5.26 million from the Tsim Sha Tsui branch of 3D-Gold in March – about 500m from the latest crime scene.

    About 12 hours before the hit on Chow Sang Sang, officers from the Kowloon west regional crime unit foiled a robbery and arrested six men for targeting a watch shop in Tsim Sha Tsui. Police say the suspects were two Hongkongers and four Mainland Chinese.

    Arresting the four mainlanders outside the shop just before 9pm on Monday, the police seized two stun guns and two knives. The two Hong Kong men were arrested after being found in two cars parked nearby.

    Official statistics show police handled 102 reports of robberies across Hong Kong in the first seven months of this year, down 36 per cent on the 161 cases in the same period last year.

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  • Chow Sang Sang and Luk Fook eye new move to boost holiday sales

    Chow Sang Sang and Luk Fook eye new move to boost holiday sales

    Jewelry retailers Chow Sang Sang Holdings (00116.HK) and Luk Fook Holdings 00590.HK) are said to be waiving the craftsmanship fee on their gold products in a bid to spur sales during the upcoming Labor Day holidays.

    The promotional period will last for six days until May 2 at Chow Sang Sang, and until May 4 in the case of Luk Fook, according to the Hong Kong Economic Journal.

    Chow Sang Sang’s Greater China general manager for retail operations, Lau Hak-bun, was quoted as saying that the move is aimed at addressing a slowdown in business.

    The jewelry retailer has seen a 20-percent decline in revenue during the first quarter despite a 10-percent bounce in gold prices.

    With the waiver of the craftsmanship fee, customers can save HK$400 to HK$1,000 on wedding bracelets, according to Lau.

    A slowdown in tourist arrivals from the mainland has affected Hong Kong’s retail sector, with luxury goods shops particularly feeling the pinch.

    Export sales of Swiss luxury watches fell 16.1 percent in March, with sales to Hong Kong tumbling as much as 37.7 percent, according to data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH.

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  • Jewellery retailers bearish on sales for CNY holiday

    Jewellery retailers bearish on sales for CNY holiday

    Retailers Chow Sang Sang and Seng Fung both reckon the fall trend in jewellery sales seen in 2015 will last until the upcoming holiday

    The fall trend seen in jewellery sales last year will persist all the way through the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday in February, and more shop consolidations or a halt of retail expansion are likely to happen under the bearish outlook on sales, said jewellery retailers. Mr Lau Hak Bun, general manager of retail operations (Greater China) at the jewellery retailer Chow Sang Sang Holdings International Ltd, told media yesterday after attending a Hong Kong radio programme of his bearish forecast for sales for the coming Chinese New Year holiday, with a likely register of “single-digit” drop in sales for Hong Kong and Macau.

    The Chinese New Year holiday this year will fall on the second week of February.

    Speaking to media, Mr Lau has noted that sales during Christmas have failed to stimulate overall sales for Chow Sang Sang, which has already seen a fall trend since the first half of 2015. Chow Sang Sang saw its same store sales in Hong Kong and Macau decline by 12 percent year-on-year for the first half of last year as the consumption sentiment from mainland Chinese clients weakened and the unit selling price of the company’s jewellery items decreased, Mr Lau said.

    The gaining strength of the US dollar and the depreciation of Southeast Asian currencies will also affect visitors’ high-end spendings in Hong Kong this year, the jewellery retailer executive expected. Lee Koi Ian, general manager at local jewellery retailer Seng Fung Jewellery Co Ltd, shared a similar sales outlook with Mr Lau.

    “The recent drop in gold prices has not really stimulated much of our sales,” Mr Lee told Business Daily, “Since last year, the sales of jewellery has weakened a lot as we have seen much less gift hunting [from mainland Chinese shoppers] and spending from gamblers.”
    Declining to give a full sales figure for last year, Mr Lee said Seng Fung has suffered a “double-digit” drop in its turnover for the whole year.
    “Visitors’ traffic did improve a bit during the Christmas holiday, but still on a year-on-year basis, we saw our sales register a single-digit drop,” Mr Lee said.

    For the first three quarters of 2015, notable decline is seen in the sales of watches and jewellery here: the value of the retail sales of watches and jewellery has dropped by 26.1 percent year-on-year to MOP10.15 billion in the period, latest available data from Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) shows.

    Cautious outlook
    In response to the weaker sales performance, both Chow Sang Sang and Seng Fung said that they are not going to offer steep discounts for the promotion of sales of their products.

    “But we’ll be more cautious in our shop expansion plan,” Mr Lee said, “In the coming one or two years, we don’t think we are having more shops in casinos.”

    Currently Seng Fung runs eight shops across Macau, mostly on streets. In Chow Sang Sang’s interim report filed in September last year, the retailer has already mentioned that one street-level shop in Macau was closed at the expiry of its lease. Now Chow Sang Sang runs four shops in Macau, of which three are in casino-resorts.

    The Hong Kong-listed jewellery retailer does not rule out more shop consolidation or even closures to happen, Mr Lau noted to media yesterday. Chow Sang Sang has already closed two stores last year, one in Causeway Bay and another in Kwai Fong.

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  • Chow Sang Sang local sales slide

    Chow Sang Sang local sales slide

    Jeweller Chow Sang Sang has reported a 12 per cent slump in same store sales in Hong Kong and Macau during the first half of this year.

    But the company’s total sales slipped just one per cent and its profit rose 40 per cent during the six months, due to its disposal of shares in Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. Operating profit was down about 12 per cent.

    The company said while official records show a 5.9 per cent increase in the number of visits to Hong Kong by Mainland Chinese in the first five months, “actual spending by these visitors did not bring much cheer to the luxury retail sector”.

    “Negative sentiments towards cross-border traders and even mainland visitors probably cast a pall over shopping activities. Exchange rate fluctuations caused price differences that made it worthwhile for consumers from the mainland, and even those from Hong Kong, to shop in Japan and Europe for luxury goods.”

    During the half, Chow Sang Sang closed its Metroplaza store in Kwai Chung, but expanded its store in Elements, West Kowloon and converted the fitout to the company’s new generation shop design.

    The company said Macau was especially hard hit by the anti-graft campaigns and the measure to restrict funds outflow. One street-level store was closed there at the expiry of its lease.

    “On the Mainland, the slowing growth in the economy, the continued anti-corruption and austerity drive affected high-ticket spending, but in general the retail sector was healthy.”

    The jeweller opened 21 stores during the half taking its reach to 102 cities. Ten underperforming stores were closed for a net gain of 11 and a total network of 333.

    The company says in the months ahead it will continue to closely monitor its inventory levels. It has revamped its online shops both for the Mainland and Hong Kong and online sales continue to grow.

    “We are making progress in facilitating our online customers to take advantage of the network of physical stores.”

    In Hong Kong the company has acquired space in Citywalk, Tsuen Wan, to open a Rolex and Tudor store.

    The existing store in the same mall shall cease to operate its watch counters.

    In China 18 stores are planned between now and Christmas, along with several refitting and closings.

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