HK luxury retailers look to Macau for expansion

Hong Kong

LUXURY-WATCH retailer Halewinner will almost double its store count in the Chinese gambling hub of Macau, where casinos want time to be irrelevant, dealing another blow to Hong Kong's staggering retail market.

Halewinner Watches Group will open at least nine more shops in Macau while closing two in Hong Kong, chairman Karson Choi said in an interview. Most of the new stores will be in the Cotai Strip, where Sands China Ltd will open its Parisian resort this year and Wynn Macau Ltd will debut the Wynn Palace.

"This year we're still going ahead with our major expansion plan," explained Mr Choi. "That plan is in Macau."

The peninsula, home to the world's biggest gambling centre, is trying to diversify its image by welcoming luxury-brand shoppers. That effort is helping siphon big spenders from Hong Kong, where the number of visitors from China dropped for nine strai…