Anway/Sky Connection is preparing a “massive” remodelling program for its Mass Transit Railway (MTR) duty-free shops, following its second successive contract-term defence of its concession. The concession covers the border railway stations of Hung Hom, Lok Ma Chau and Lo Wu.
Lo Wu is Hong Kong’s most heavily used immigration control point for passengers travelling to and from Mainland China, with Anway generating HK$2 billion (US$257 million) in duty-free sales turnover from this location.
Anway/Sky CEO Baker Salleh says the company’s other main station shop locations are increasingly closing in on Lo Wu’s sales levels.
He says the Lo Wu outlet, currently the world’s largest duty-free railway shop in terms of sales, is being upgraded in terms of location, passenger flows and extra space.
“We are going to renovate all the shops pretty much because MTR is going to remodel the two terminals,” says Salleh. The work is expected to be finished in the first quarter next year.
Anway/Sky’s new five-year contract is set to begin on January 1 next with the minimum guarantee acceptable for the Lo Wu and Hung Hom business originally set at HK$87 million a month, or 42 per cent of sales, whichever proves higher.
Meanwhile, work is also progressing on the $8 billion West Kowloon Terminus, which will be home for the high-speed Express Rail Link service with services expected to start in the third quarter of next year. The 11ha underground terminus is next to the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) and MTR Kowloon and Austin Stations.
The complex will have immigration halls and border control, plus duty-free and F&B outlets, arrival and departures halls, and departure lounges. The station is designed to link Hong Kong with major cities on the mainland.
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