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Lohas Park greets 13 stores in Hong Kong’s biggest mall opening in a year amid pandemic

  • A supermarket is among 13 stores opening for business on Sunday at Lohas Park as residents end decade-long wait for own mall, according to MTR
  • Lohas Park, the single largest residential enclave in Hong Kong, will have 63,000 residents when fully completed in 2025

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The Lohas will have 13 new shops on its initial launch on Sunday, including a supermarket, ending Lohas Park residents’ decade-long wait for their own mall. Photo: Handout
Lohas Park, Hong Kong’s single largest residential enclave, will get its own shopping centre after more than a decade of waiting, with 13 stores opening on Sunday as the city grapples with its worst recession on record.
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The stores will take up 70,000 sq ft of retail space or about 15 per cent of the 480,000 sq ft of available space in the three-storey mall known as The Lohas in New Territories, according to owner MTR Corporation, which is also the city’s rail operator.

This weekend’s initial launch is being rushed four months ahead of its schedule to meet demand from work-from-home residents and those living in the vicinity, even though a third wave of coronavirus pandemic has continued to depress retail sales and tourist arrivals.

“We want to provide services to local residents as soon as possible, particularly when many are working from home amid the pandemic,” said David Tang, property director at MTR. “If we can open some stores, this can help them avoid going to another district for meals and shopping.”

Retail sales have slumped for 17 straight months, with supermarkets the only bright spot among all types of businesses, according to the statistics bureau. Sales shrank 33 per cent in value in the first half this year from a year earlier. Tourists from mainland China, the lifeblood of the industry, have since been reduced to a trickle.
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