His is the unenviable task to sustain a rate of rental for Hong Kong\u2019s premier shopping mall that keeps his customers profitable. On the other hand it\u2019s his job to lower costs, exceed expectations and keep us all visiting and shopping. Managing such a wide range of personalities amidst constant change across a range of brands and their markets is no mean feat and one is intrigued to know just what makes Karim Azar tick and how. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not easy when you have some of the world\u2019s best brand as your tenants. We have the No. 1 Apple store and fantastic brands like J. Crew, Givenchy, Moncler, Victoria\u2019s Secret, Leica Store, L\u2019Occitane and many more, says Karim proudly of the host of luxury brands that comprise the wonder, charm and excitement of IFC Mall.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEvery day brings excitement, challenges and the opportunity to do my best for my fellow being, I guess that\u2019s what keeps me going,\u201d says Karim. \u201cSometimes I often feel the job is more like a conductor of an orchestra and you have\u00a0to work with so many different people to produce an applause-worth symphony for the shopping lovers to enjoy and for our tents to profit by. My job is to sustain the bigger picture without letting the colours run into each other unless they promise a beautiful blend.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think the more serious issues begin with price parity because these brands have been taking advantage of the Chinese and Hong Kong consumers for too many years. The price differences of some of these brands ranges from 20% to 100% higher here in Hong Kong than they are in their home markets.<\/span><\/p>\n With the Internet, this is definitely affecting their business, and they definitely have to take the long term view of price parity worldwide. The days are over where you can charge the Chinese significantly more. Now they (the Chinese) are going to Europe, America, and other places abroad where prices are much lower. <\/span><\/p>\n The situation is further exasperated by the weak Euro at the moment, and Hong Kong being linked to the US dollar makes this issue even higher.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n For the first time, there were more Korean visitors last year in Hong Kong (1.2 million) vs only 1 million Japanese. This has never happened before. So things are changing. It\u2019s all about being the fastest, being on the ball. It\u2019s all about staying in touch with your customers. I feel a lot of brands have no idea what their customers are looking for. They don\u2019t know where the customers are coming from and they don\u2019t know the profile of the customers well enough. These factors should be better studied in order to take sales up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This has been happening which is why today you see many landlords in Causeway Bay ending up with higher vacancies than we\u2019ve seen in Hong Kong for a long time. Less people are taking those shops at those crazy rents. <\/span><\/p>\nTouch & Go <\/span><\/h3>\n
The Main Issues <\/span><\/h3>\n
Big Picture <\/span><\/h3>\n
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\u201cThere is a demand and supply situation. You\u2019ve got more people coming to Hong Kong. You\u2019ve got a massive influx of retailers around the world coming here. That tends to push up prices. You can\u2019t push up rents recklessly though simply because you have to keep your tenants profitable for them to be willing to stay and pay.<\/span><\/p>\n