(Photo : Getty Images) Male models wave to public at the Abercrombie & Fitch Shanghai Flagship Store Opening on April 19, 2014 in Shanghai, China.


Another US clothing brand will be closing its store in Hong Kong due to the dwindling retail sales and the decreasing number of shoppers from mainland China. Casual wear fashion chain Abercrombie & Fitch announced this week that it will close its only flagship store in Central early next year.



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Abercrombie & Fitch's four-storey, 25,600 square feet boutique on Pedder St at the city's Central business district opened in 2011. Its monthly rent at the bustling area amounts to HK$7 million per month. The store's lease is valid until 2019, but the company will be pulling out early and expects the store's closure to be completed before next year's Q2 ends.



The company will be paying a lease termination charge of HK$124 million during the fourth quarter.



"These actions are part of the company's ongoing strategic review and are expected to drive economic benefit overtime," the company said in a statement. Abercrombie & Fitch will also close its flagship store in Seoul, South Korea, in January next year.



To offset and possibly drive more sales, the fashion company plans to open five stores in mainland China by January 2017.



Hong Kong has experienced a boom in retail growth in the past decade as one of Asia's premier shopping destination. However, recent numbers show that it is slowly losing its glamor as a shopping hub mainly because of the slowing Chinese economy as Hong Kong's shoppers mostly come from mainland tourists.



Luxury fashion brand Coach already closed its four-storey boutique in Central last year, while Forever 21 announced that it will follow suit, closing its store in Causeway Bay in late 2017.




TagsAbercrombie & Fitch, Hong Kong retail, retail sales, flagship store, company