Oh man.. okay, I don't break news stories, but here's some interesting retail news in Asia lately -
1) American Apparel opens an online store in Singapore. Yippee for me, I need dance gear!
2) Baby Phat surfaces in Singapore, it's first store in Asia. Of all places, they end up at J-cube, which is a suburban mall. Shows just how dead the "Urban/hiphop" look is!
The fact that these American brands are trying to test the waters in Asia.. Hmm.. not sure! Yes, our economy is still growing over here, but I can tell you that we are feeling the effects of the slowdown too!.. By observation and a general feel of the retail scene in Singapore, I'm not sure how many of us can weather this downturn. They say that retailers are usually the last ones to feel this trickle down effect, but I think we all get a sense of how much customers are willing to spend in stores earlier than any one else because we are actually in the stores interacting with them!
3) H&M closes it's Central flagship store in HK, pointing to the fact that Asian cities have horribly HIGH RENTALS!! Sure if even H&M feels the pinch of the high rentals and the slowing economy (no more Chinese tourists), aren't we all doomed??
Outlook: A little shaky
