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Tag: Plaza 66

  • Borsalino Opens First China Boutique at Shanghai Plaza 66

    Borsalino Opens First China Boutique at Shanghai Plaza 66

    Borsalino opened its first permanent boutique in mainland China at Shanghai’s Plaza 66, launching the 170-year-old Italian luxury hatmaker’s direct retail presence in the country.

    The Shanghai debut anchors the company’s broader expansion push across Greater China and key international retail destinations.

    Mauro Baglietto, managing director of Borsalino, led the ribbon-cutting ceremony alongside Alec Hou, chief executive of Essence Group, joined by representatives from the Italian government and Plaza 66 leasing management. To accompany the launch, the brand unveiled a limited-edition jewellery collection featuring a Fedora finished with an 18-carat gold logo set with rubies, sapphires and diamonds.

    Heritage and Pop-Up Operations

    Plaza 66 hosted a Borsalino pop-up installation from 22 to 27 August to support the boutique opening. The temporary space showed archival vintage headwear, demonstrations of Italian millinery craft, and bespoke personalisation services for local shoppers.

    Giuseppe Borsalino established the company in Alessandria, Italy, in 1857, making it the country’s oldest operating luxury hatmaker. The business currently pairs its own-brand boutiques and wholesale accounts with global distribution networks, fashion collaborations and film-industry styling partnerships.

    Niche Luxury in Prime Retail Malls

    Heritage European craft houses continue to seek dedicated real estate across top-tier Chinese commercial centers to engage high-net-worth buyers directly rather than relying solely on multi-brand stockists. Placing a standalone store inside Plaza 66 gives Borsalino immediate access to Shanghai’s most concentrated luxury customer base.

    The next metric to watch is whether Essence Group and Borsalino follow this flagship opening with additional retail leases in secondary luxury hubs such as Beijing and Chengdu.

  • Pronovias enters China with Shanghai store opening

    Pronovias enters China with Shanghai store opening

    Spanish bridalwear firm Pronovias has launched its first Chinese location in Shanghai. The 500sqm store is opening in luxury shopping centre Plaza 66, which hosts a range of high-end brands including Chanel and Dior. The move sparks off a greater strategy for the region, in which the Shanghai location will serve as Pronovias’s flagship.

    The brand was founded by BC Partners explicitly to tackle the difficult Chinese and American markets. China is the world’s largest producer of wedding dresses, and local custom is often to hire rather than buy the dress.

    The firm is simultaneously moving to expand in the US, with eight openings planned for the American East Coast.

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  • Buccellati China opens store in Shanghai

    Buccellati China opens store in Shanghai

    Buccellati China has opened its first store, in Shanghai’s Plaza 66 shopping mall.

    To celebrate, the Italian luxury jeweller hosted a grand opening ceremony followed by a gala dinner attended by its brand ambassador, international actress Zhang Ziyi.

    Buccellati also unveiled The Labyrinth High Jewelry capsule collection for Japanese luxury watches and jewellery store Wako featuring seven one-of-a-kind pieces, all embellished with diamonds and featuring such iconic Buccellati touches as tulle patterns and “rigato” engravings.

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  • Frette China opens Shanghai flagship

    Frette China opens Shanghai flagship

    Frette China has opened its first flagship store, in Shanghai’s Puxi district.

    In the five-level Plaza 66 shopping centre and designed by New York architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, the Frette boutique covers 230 sqm.

    It offers classic and seasonal collections of bed linen and towels, as well as accessories.

    Frette was established in Grenoble, France, in 1860. It relocated to Concorezzo, Italy, in 1865 and now has its headquarters in Monza. It specialises in luxury home furnishings, including bedding and towels, and provides linen to such hotels as Raffles Hotel Singapore, The Four Seasons, The Peninsula Hong Kong and The Ritz London.

    Frette China Shanghai

     

    While the company has 25 stores across Asia, it regards the market as “significantly underdeveloped”.

    “We’ve opened flagships in Taiwan and Hong Kong, but have really only just started in Southeast Asia,” says CEO Herve Martin. “Until now, we haven’t been present at all in China and Japan.

    “In my eyes, China is the place of the moment and will play a major role in the coming decades — not just in the luxury business industries, but in all industries. China is at the forefront of world evolution. Now is the right time to build up here.”

    After Shanghai he expects there may be a demand to open in Beijing, and the company’s mid-term goals could possibly also include Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

  • Etro China opens store in Shanghai mall

    Etro China opens store in Shanghai mall

    Italian luxury house Etro China has opened a store in Shanghai’s Plaza 66 mall.

    Covering more than 150 sqm, the store features both men’s and women’s clothing and accessories collections as well as the brand’s latest retail design concept, reports CPP-Luxury.

    Founded in 1968, Etro is a family-owned fashion house with its headquarters in Milan. As well as China, it has outlets in Japan and South Korea.

    Etro Plaza 66

     

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  • Joyce Boutique plunges into the red

    Joyce Boutique plunges into the red

    Listed fashion boutique operator Joyce Boutique says it will continue to take a cautious approach to business expansion and focus on consolidation of the Joyce multi-label business towards higher-productivity stores in the year ahead.

    It will renovate and expand the Joyce flagship store in Central and relocate the Shanghai Joyce flagship store to a bigger space within Plaza 66 to introduce a completely new look and unique shopping experience to customers.

    The move follows revelation of a HK$34.9 million half year loss for the company – a major turnaround from the $32.8 million profit in the same period last year.

    Sales slumped 10.9 per cent, and gross margin lost 3.5 percentage points, the company has reported to the stock exchange.

    “The persistent fall-off in customer spending on luxury goods in Hong Kong and Mainland China drove down the sales performance of the luxury retail market in the period. Depreciation of the euro and yen against the dollar and renminbi led to an increase in overseas shopping and online shopping for luxury goods and impacted on bricks-and-mortar local retailing.” the company said in its interim report.

    Joyce Boutique’s Hong Kong, turnover dropped by 10.3 per cent against the same period last year and accounted for 82.5 per cent of group turnover (2014: 81.9 per cent). Further impacted by declined gross margin and increased rental costs, the Hong Kong division incurred an operating loss of $12.6 million for the period (2014: a profit of $36.6 million).

    Mainland China turnover declined by 14.6 per cent versus the same period last year and operating results turned into a loss of $22.9 million from last year’s profit of $3.1 million, chiefly the result of a general decline in turnover and margin and an additional $7.6 million provision made for a loss making shop in Shanghai.

    Joyce Boutique inside

    The joint venture with Marni made a loss contribution of $1.0 million (2014: profit of HK$1.3 million) due to a drop in turnover and an increase in operating costs.

    “In view of the difficult trading environment, the group adopted a cautious shop strategy. While opening new shops for three potential brands as planned in the previous financial year (the first Hong Kong shop for Thom Browne at On Lan St, the first China shop for Sacai at Beijing Sanlitun and the first Macau shop for Alexander Wang at Galaxy Macau), the group closed certain non-performing shops to improve shop productivity,” the company reported.

    As well as the change in store focus and the renovation of the Hong Kong and Shanghai flagships, the company says it plans to further strengthen customer loyalty and drive sales from VIP customers through enhanced personal stylist services and the introduction of private customer mobile apps.

    Joyce Boutique says it expects the near term trading environment will remain “tough and challenging”.

    “Rental levels in prime shopping malls remain high relative to turnover. Online shopping and overseas shopping for luxury goods will continue to impact on bricks-and-mortar specialty retailing. In view of the challenges, the group will focus on driving cost efficiency and shop productivity, fashion editing and reducing business risks through taking cautious approach to business expansion and stock purchase planning.”

  • Hang Lung posts strong result

    Hang Lung posts strong result

    Hong Kong listed Chinese mall owner Hang Lung Group has reported a three per cent rise in turnover in the first half of 2015.

    The group said revenue reached HK$4.893 billion, with rental turnover up eight per cent to HK$4.148 billion. Property sales income decreased 17 per cent to HK$745 million due to the sale of fewer residential units.

    Overall operating profit of the group increased by three per cent to HK$3.725 billion.

    In Mainland China the group says it has benefited from increased investment in the Chinese market by luxury brands.

    “Our seven shopping malls in mainland China collectively posted an 11 per cent rental income growth to HK$1.684 billion,” the company said in its stock exchange filing.

    That portfolio comprises two malls each in Shanghai and Shenyang, and one each in Jinan, Wuxi and Tianjin. The two malls in Shanghai, Plaza 66 and Grand Gateway 66, contributed nine per cent more in rents to HK$1.059 billion and were almost fully let.

    “The young malls outside Shanghai cumulatively contributed 16 per cent more in rents year-on-year mainly attributable to contribution from the Riverside 66 shopping mall in Tianjin which commenced operation last September. All the young malls are going through different stages of gestation period with ongoing tenants or trade adjustments. Their occupancy rates ranged from 80 per cent to 90 per cent.”

    In Hong Kong, rental turnover of our diversified Hong Kong leasing portfolio rose seven per cent to HK$1.816 billion against the backdrop of declining overall retail sales in the local market.

    “All business segments of our portfolio recorded growth with total profit rose seven per cent to HK$1.556 billion. The resulting leasing margin was 86 per cent.”

    Positive rental reversions of Hang Lung’s Hong Kong commercial portfolio generated six per cent more in rents to HK$1.040 billion.

    “All the malls, which are situated in prime locations of Hong Kong, were virtually fully let. Grand Plaza in Mongkok and Amoy Plaza in Kowloon East both enjoyed a 13 per cent rental growth. The Causeway Bay commercial portfolio posted a five per cent rental income growth, despite Hang Lung Centre has been closed for renovation by H&M since January 2015.

    “The properties in Central collected seven per cent more in rents. The Peak Galleria at the

    Peak contributed extra five per cent leasing income to the Group. Kornhill Plaza, our regional mall in Hong Kong East, posted a stable rental growth of four per cent during the period.”

    Hang Lung said final preparations are underway for the opening of its shopping mall at Olympia 66 in Dalian towards the end of the year. This new mall comprises almost 222,000 sqm of retail area and 1200 car parks.