The World’s Most Expensive Retail Playground Is Suffering

Hong Kong is one of the top shopping destinations in the world, a dense cluster of malls where locals, mainland Chinese, and tourists from all over travel to browse and buy fashion, jewelry, electronics, cosmetics, and more. In the hyper-frenetic shopping district of Causeway Bay, where signs flash the logos of major international brands and luxury labels draw in wealthy clientele, rents on the main drag were the most expensive in the world in 2018, topping New York’s Fifth Avenue and London’s New Bond Street. But throughout 2018, Hong Kong’s retail sales growth slowed. In February of this year, even before pro-democracy protests spread throughout the city, sales plunged. The losses have continued since. In July—the first full month to register the effects of the protests—the decline accelerated, as retail sales plummeted 11.4%, the steepest drop in more than three years. Read more at Quartz.