Fortnum Mason to open a retail store in Hong Kong
In this May 19, 2022 photo, people shop in Fortnum Mason, a traditional tea store in London, Britain. The British luxury brand is about to open a retail store at the Hong Kong International Airport. Fortnum Mason operates a popular flagship store and restaurant in Hong Kong at K 11 Musea, initiated by New World Development Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO Adrian Cheng Chi-kong.
Since opening in late 2019, the flagship store in Kowloon continues to draw a greater number of followers in Hong Kong.
The British luxury brand, which is celebrating its 315th anniversary this year, is known for making the popular Scotch egg, as well as special blends of teas, biscuits and Christmas hampers.
On June 18th, the company partnered with e-commerce accelerator Pattern to launch a Tmall Global store to expand its online business to the Chinese mainland. Livestreams in Mandarin are planned. Fortnum Mason is ready to open a retail store at Hong Kong International Airport.
One reason I am excited about opening on Tmall is that we are conscious that the digital world in the UK is led by the Far East, according to Fortnum Mason CEO Tom Athron, who spoke to China Daily Hong Kong from London.
The way in which consumers in China are interacting with brands and influencers, as well as online shopping, is reflected by the way consumers are likely to interact with brands and influencers over here in the UK, probably in two or three years. Carmen Chiu, Fortnum Mason's regional managing director for Asia Pacific, said Pattern will be the trade partner, supporting every aspect of running its new flagship store on Tmall Global, China's largest cross-border online marketplace. Chiu, who manages the brand's retail and hospitality business in Hong Kong, described Fortnum Mason as an experiential brand People want to know the brand story and heritage. She said that we want to have an offline space for customers to immerse themselves in our products.
It is a long journey, and we started learning about our mainland customers with Tmall Global. Who knows if it is Shanghai first, Guangzhou first, Beijing or even Chengdu in Sichuan province? We will be able to find out where our customers are buying from and what they are buying from, if we enter Tmall. I am sure that Sparkling Tea will be a huge success.
Opening the Tmall Global flagship store to start with and then going to domestic would be a huge journey for us. When we have enough data points, it will be easier for us to map out our next step in China. Fortnum Mason CEO Athron, who has previously spent a lot of time in Hong Kong, said the brand will learn a lot about the future through Tmall.
He said there is a world where we can learn and try new things from the work Carmen Chiu is doing, and then launch things in the UK that will be very leading edge.
A range of tea-infused mooncakes, launched in Hong Kong in 2020, was successful and introduced to London as well.
Fortum Mason is also a presence in the specialty retailer Lane Crawford.
We have had confidence in Hong Kong since we entered Lane Crawford.