World's second-largest jeweller to shut down about a fifth of its Hong Kong stores

Hong Kong

CHOW Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd said it plans to shut about 15 of its Hong Kong stores after their leases expire this year, in a sign that major retailers are starting to withdraw from the city's economy as anti-China protests continue.

In the first significant pullback by a luxury retailer after months of fiery demonstrations that have driven tourists away, the world's second-largest jewellery chain said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday that it will not renew the leases of a "mid-teens" number of stores in the year starting from April.