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Andy Chen

The 'golden week' holiday just ended provided a bonanza for Hong Kong and mainland retailers as holidaymakers helped lift sales by up to 40 per cent at some popular outlets.
Retailers attributed the surge in sales to the festive mood among shoppers, whose spending power and positive sentiment were buoyed by bullish stock markets.
Ports Design, a mainland high-end fashion retailer that carries the Ports 1961 and Ports International brands, reported that sales from October 1 to October 4 surpassed the year-ago level by 35 per cent.
'Beijing and Shanghai appeared to be the strongest in the growth of retail sales,' said Ports chief executive Alfred Chan Kai-tai. 'Consumers appeared to be in a very festive mood and to be willing to use credit a lot more than last year.'
Hong Kong  mid-range fashion retailer I.T said sales revenues earned between September 29 and October 3 were up 12 per cent  locally and 40 per cent in the mainland. 'Growth in sales was across all brands and cities, with Beijing performing best,' said vice-chairman and managing director William Lo Wing-yan.
Jewellery retailer Chow Sang Sang said average ticket prices rose 10 per cent during the golden week to between HK$3,500 and HK$4,000. General manager Vincent Chow Wing-shing  said  growth was primarily driven by mainland tourists  visiting Hong Kong.
Chow Sang Sang's rival, jewellery chain Tse Sui Luen (TSL),  posted double-digit growth in sales  both in Hong Kong and the mainland.  'I think the major reasoning is that the overall market sentiment is quite positive due to the stock market's bull run,' said TSL executive director Erwin Huang.
According to Immigration Department figures, the number of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong between September 29 and October 5 rose 30 per cent year on year to 453,000.
Looking forward, I.T said it expected pressure on profitability in Hong Kong, while TSL and Chow Sang Sang said they would face surging operating costs on the mainland.
Mr Lo noted that global plays such as H&M and Zara  'do affect our profitability negatively by exerting pressure on both rental and staff expenses'.
Mr Huang, meanwhile, said that marketing and personnel 'have become very expensive' in the mainland, and that 'hiring and training are time-consuming tasks'.
Golden week influx
Mainland visitors this past golden week totalled 453,000, up from last year by: 30%



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