Chow Tai Fook

August is supposed to be one of the best months of the year for gold sales in Macau – but not this year.
Macau gold sales fell at least 20 per cent year on year, according to the Macau Goldsmiths Guild.
The guild’s director Lei Chi Fong told the Macau Business Daily that local jewellery retailers posted higher sales and saw better consumer sentiment when compared to the first half of this year. But sales for the month dropped sharply compared to a year ago, he said.
“The smaller-scale jewellery shops on the streets still lost some 20-30 per cent of sales in August compared to a year ago.
“As for those that are reliant upon gamblers, their sales decline is even steeper at some 70 to 80 per cent,” he said.
As previously reported, retail sales of watches, clocks and jewellery dropped 30 per cent in the first half of this year as the number of Mainland Chinese visitors to the territory dropped, especially of high spending gamblers.
Lei said many jewellers had adjusted their product mix to offer more mid- and low-priced products.
Lei’s own store Seng Fung Jewellery has been largely unaffected.
“For Seng Fung, we are not reliant upon those high rollers. Our street shops always have an even portfolio of clients across the spending spectrum,” he said. “But of course what we see now is that the jewellery market is only left with those that can spend on smaller ticket [items] and that they are very prudent in spending.”
Read the full story on the Macau Business Daily

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