Owners hope boulevard can be revived
Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium is among the shops still open on Park Lane Shoppers’ Boulevard, a once-thriving tourist draw in Tsim Sha Tsui that is struggling to come back to life.
“Because of the pandemic, everything is gone. The place is very quiet now,” said Andrew Yu Wai-kit, director of the department store that was among the first to open in the area in 1986.
A third of the 70 shops in the famous row along Nathan Road closed for good during the pandemic as Hong Kong shut to visitors and what used to be a magnet for mainland Chinese is now a shadow of its former self.
Yu’s company owns 19 shops along the strip and, as chairman of the boulevard’s group of owners, he has worked with other owners to revive its fortunes.
For starters, they hope to attract more Hong Kong shoppers, instead of waiting for mainland visitors to return.
They have applied for planning approval to convert some units into cafes selling coffee, tea and pastries, among other goods.
But, because of the nearby Kowloon Park, the strip has been barred from having restaurants to prevent pollution.
Apart from Yue Hwa, the other shops still open are mainly jewellers, including Chow Tai Fook Jewellery, and sportswear shops such as Nike and Fila.
Yu said diversification of the offerings could make a difference and attract more Hongkongers.
“Most people treat shopping as a lifestyle experience involving not just buying goods, but also eating and drinking. As this is not allowed on Park Lane, people just go to the malls nearby,” he added.
Park Lane, which stretches more than 300m along Nathan Road, occupies part of the site of the former Whitfield Barracks which was bought for HK$218 million in 1983 in a joint venture by Miramar Hotel and Investment and New World Development.
They built the row of twostorey shops, designed to blend in with Kowloon Park, and sold the units to different owners.
In a newspaper advertisement from 1985, a year before it opened, the development was marketed as a landmark that combined “the elegance of Faubourg St Honore, Paris, [and] the grandeur of Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills”.
In the area’s heyday shoppers could buy jewellery, clothes from fashion chains and toys, as well as enjoy the shade of old Chinese banyan trees. It drew tourists and locals alike, with festive lights and decorations during the Christmas and Lunar New Year seasons.
The boulevard became a favourite of mainland Chinese who were allowed to visit Hong Kong under a scheme to help revive the city’s economy after the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003.
But the crowds put off younger Hongkongers such as Edward Lui, 33, a hospital employee, who thought of Park Lane as a place full of tourists and shops selling gold, suitcases and electronics.
“It is somewhere I always avoid when I am at Tsim Sha Tsui,” said Lui, who added that he preferred nearby shopping centres such as Harbour City and K11.
A total of 24 units on the strip were vacant last month, including seven undergoing renovation.
To revive its fortunes, Yu consulted the other 43 owners and set up an owners corporation last year that led to the plan to have a better mix of shops, including those selling food and drinks.
“The market has been pushing the boulevard to change, to cater not only to tourists but also locals,” he said. “Having a tenant mix with light refreshments will attract lifestyle brands and lifestyle concept stores that hopefully attract more customers.”
But Simon Lee Siu-po, of the Asia-Pacific Institute of Business at Chinese University, was pessimistic about Park Lane’s prospects of becoming more appealing as there were plenty of dining options nearby.
He said the strip’s fragmented ownership was also an obstacle. “Everyone has different interests. They may not unite to work together, which makes it hard to succeed,” he said. He expected jewellery shops to dominate once the border reopened and tourists returned.