The American footwear brand Skechers has taken over a prime retail space on Russell Street in Causeway Bay, previously occupied by the luxury Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe, capitalising on softened rents in Hong Kong’s struggling retail market, the South China Morning Post reported.
The 1,036-square–foot (approximately 96 square metres) ground-floor shop at 50–52 Russell Street was leased to Skechers for three years at HK$360,000 (US$45,860) per month, or HK$347 per square foot. That’s about 35% less than the HK$550,000 monthly rent reportedly paid by Patek Philippe, and far below the HK$1.86 million peak seen during the market’s height.
Once the world’s most expensive shopping strip by rent per square foot, Russell Street saw rates reach US$2,671 annually at the 2018 peak, outpacing Paris’s Champs-Élysées and New York’s Fifth Avenue, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
Skechers’ arrival reflects a broader shift in tenant mix across Causeway Bay, as economic challenges and evolving consumer habits reshape Hong Kong’s retail landscape. In April, a local pharmacy replaced the Italian lingerie brand La Perla at a 46% discount, and the mainland brokerage Futu Securities reportedly signed a HK$1.2 million lease at another Russell Street address.
Hong Kong retail sales had been in decline for 14 consecutive months before a modest 2.4% uptick in May. Even so, the vacancies in prime shopping centres hit a record 10.5% by June, with rents slipping further. With 600,000 square feet of new prime retail space due in late 2025, property experts expect rents to fall another 5%–10% this year.
Meanwhile, Prince Jewellery & Watch, a long-time tenant, vacated its 1,800-square-foot shop on Russell Street after the landlord raised the rent from HK$1.1 million to HK$2 million.
