Grocery Chain Closes in Hong Kong Adding to Retail Woes

Uselect supermarkets will be closing across Hong Kong

More closures happening in Hong Kong with supermarket chan Uselect closing all of its locations because of the city's retail slump.

Uselect is owned by state-owned China Resources Group, and its closure comes days after its health product business CR Care announced it was shutting all 19 of its shops in November after 13 years in Hong Kong.

Uselect offered many UK-imported goods

Before the 2019 protests, Uselect opened in good locations and offered things like a large selection of cheeses at decent prices aimed at expats. It was also open later so I would sometimes pop in to buy something, or look around for discounts.

The supermarket chan had 100 locations in the city as recently as last year, but when it announced its closure on Sunday, only 40 were listed. 

When the 2019 protests broke out, some protesters targeted mainland Chinese businesses, but they managed to survive through the Covid-19 pandemic too. But perhaps shoppers would rather patronise local businesses.

Other closures:

An American brand called Garrett Popcorn is closing all of its locations as well after calling it quits on Hong Kong after 13 years.

UA Cinemas has also shuttered its six theatres across the city, unable to recover after there were mandatory closures of the theatres in 2020 for 190 days. 

The opening of Abercrombie & Fitch in 2012 

Dessert shop Holly Brown that served unusual ice cream flavours and specialty coffee, closed last June, while its subsidiary Cabin Crew Coffee also closed in August last year.

Grocery chain Dah Chong Hong (DCH) Food Mart announced in March it was closing all 28 branches after 39 years in Hong Kong. 

That said, Abercrombie & Fitch is coming back! There will be two locations, in Hysan Place in Causeway Bay and New Town Plaza in Sha Tin. The American fashion brand returns to Hong Kong eight years after it left Pedder Street where it paid an exorbitant amount for rent.

Everyone wants to know -- will they be bringing back the shirtless young men too?