The world’s biggest luxury brands are slowing their expansion in China as more consumers shop abroad, leaving mall operators holding the bag. However, lower-priced fast-fashion brands such as H&M and Zara beat expansion goals.
The mid-market retailers are expanding fast, but they are not expanding fast enough to fill all of the shopping centres, according to James Hawkey, an executive at commercial property services group Cushman & Wakefield.
Hawkey estimates that up to a quarter of the 700 malls, department stores and outlets currently under development in China’s top 30 cities could fail, costing developers as much as CNY150 billion (USD24.48b). In some markets such as Chengdu and Shenyang, there are as many as 10 shopping centres in the works while the likes of Zara and H&M only plan to open two or three stores, he said.
(Source: Business Standard )