Retailers and restaurant operators in Hong Kong are rethinking how they use space as rents fall and demand weakens by moving back to street-level shops and experimenting with short-term “pop-up” leases.
Hing Kee Java Edible Bird’s Nest (JEBN), known locally as “Lau Soeng” – Cantonese for “upstairs” – built its business by avoiding expensive street-front rents and operating from higher floors. It is now doing the opposite.
“After the pandemic, the retail market has been weak,” said Wallace Chong,…

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