Hong Kong protests and coronavirus see Prada, Tissot make way for cheap phone store on world’s most expensive shopping street

With rents plunging amid an exodus of high-end fashion brands, the famously exclusive Russell Street in Causeway Bay is welcoming a humbler type of retailer

One shop that used to house Swiss watch maker Tissot is now home to a mobile phone accessories vendor paying just 6 per cent of what its predecessor forked out in monthly rent

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The former home of watch maker Tissot on Russell Street is now occupied by a phone and computer accessories vendor. Photo: Pearl Liu.

Published: 9:30am, 17 Jun 2020Updated: 4:02pm, 17 Jun 2020

For years it was the world’s most expensive shopping street, overshadowing anything Paris or London had to offer, its pavements brimming with shoppers hunting for Prada bags, Chanel perfumes and Blancpain watches.

But Russell Street, in Hong Kong’s bustling Causeway Bay, has lost its lustre – and a lot of its high-end tenants. The luxury fashion houses are slowly making way for more humble retailers.

You never know, one day we may see a convenience store on Russell Street or a hotpot restaurant

Oliver Tong, head of retail at JLL in Hong Kong

One shop that used to house the Swiss watch maker Tissot is now home to a mobile phone accessories vendor paying just 6 per cent of what its predecessor forked out in monthly rent.

“You never know, one day we may see a convenience store on Russell Street or a hotpot restaurant,” said Oliver Tong, head of retail at property services firm JLL in Hong Kong.

The amount of empty retail space on the glitzy boulevard doubled during the first three months of this year as a succession of international brands decided enough was enough. Already struggling for survival after months of civil unrest crippled Hong Kong’s economy, the final blow for many came this year with the coronavirus pandemic, which killed off any remaining consumer sentiment.

Colourmix, a cosmetics chain, will close its shop on Russell Street, for which it pays HK$700,000 a month, when its five-year lease expires in October, according to agents familiar with the matter.