Hong Kong July Retail Sales Plummeted 11.4 Percent

Following a 6.7 percent decline in June, Hong Kong’s retail industry took a bigger hit in July as protesters continue to disrupt the city’s daily routine this summer, most recently on Sunday. The value of total retail sales in July decreased by 11.4 percent to 34.4 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $4.39 billion, compared with the same month in 2018, according to the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The luxury industry is the biggest victim. The value of sales of jewelry, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts plummeted 24.4 percent in the period. Medicines and cosmetics fell by 16.1 percent. Apparel was down 13 percent. Footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories dropped 10.1 percent and commodities in department stores decreased by 10.4 percent. Alessandro Bogliolo, chief executive officer of Tiffany, said last week that ” our sales in Hong Kong are significantly down compared to last year. It’s a double-digit decrease. Apart from the six days, you can imagine for the rest of the quarter it’s not the best moment for shopping.” For the first seven months of 2019 taken together, it’s estimated that the value of total retail sales decreased by 3.8 percent compared with the same

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...

from WWDWWD https://ift.tt/2LqeNlv