05-07-2013, 03:21 PM
Similar situation is also happening in Singapore I suppose, but not as bad...
In the article, average of HK$1,950 (S$321) per square foot per month in most expensive location. IIRC, Orchard road retail rental is only S$32 psf per month... Wow...
HK rents push out mom-and-pop stores
HONG KONG — Nam Kee Noodles is a typical Hong Kong restaurant: Functional, popular and busy.
A dozen plastic-topped tables offer room for about 40 patrons. Customers line up outside at lunchtime, waiting to consume spicy noodle soup, dumplings and iced soya milk amid the clatter of plastic bowls and chopsticks.
In April, however, the little restaurant located in the heart of Causeway Bay, one of Hong Kong’s busiest shopping districts, nearly had to shut down after the landlord tripled the already-expensive rent.
“We were paying around HK$200,000 (S$32,816) a month,” said Mr Au Kei-hong, the shop’s manager. “But the landlord then increased it to HK$600,000. It was too expensive. We cannot afford that.”
http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...pop-stores
In the article, average of HK$1,950 (S$321) per square foot per month in most expensive location. IIRC, Orchard road retail rental is only S$32 psf per month... Wow...
HK rents push out mom-and-pop stores
HONG KONG — Nam Kee Noodles is a typical Hong Kong restaurant: Functional, popular and busy.
A dozen plastic-topped tables offer room for about 40 patrons. Customers line up outside at lunchtime, waiting to consume spicy noodle soup, dumplings and iced soya milk amid the clatter of plastic bowls and chopsticks.
In April, however, the little restaurant located in the heart of Causeway Bay, one of Hong Kong’s busiest shopping districts, nearly had to shut down after the landlord tripled the already-expensive rent.
“We were paying around HK$200,000 (S$32,816) a month,” said Mr Au Kei-hong, the shop’s manager. “But the landlord then increased it to HK$600,000. It was too expensive. We cannot afford that.”
http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...pop-stores