Monthly Archives: June 2014

Leaving Season

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There are two leaving seasons in Hong Kong. One is around Christmas break/January 1, and one is right now. The weeks leading up to these times of year are full of conversations about who is leaving, where they are going (back home? next assignment?), when they are going (after school lets out? early?), and why they are going (assignment over? new job?).  In addition to all the typical end-of-school madness, May and June are chock-full of leaving drinks, leaving lunches, and last-hurrah playdates.  All those social engagements you meant to plan over the last year? They need to happen now, because more often than not, part of the party is leaving town.

Some leavers planned their move long ago, while some are packing up with hardly any notice.  Chat boards and online marketplaces are littered with leftovers – Televisions, dehumidifiers, and coffeemakers; cars, couches and dining sets.

Moving Sale! Every other day, now.

Someday, we’ll own a leaving season, but not this time around.  For now, we are practicing our good goodbyes and looking forward to all the hellos we get to say over summer break.

Hello, High Prices!

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J.Crew has arrived! Well, sort of.

J.Crew has arrived! Well, sort of.

News that J.Crew would join Gap as an american-based retailer with a storefront in HK was tantalizing. J.Crew has had a small presence in department store Lane Crawford, but the selection is very small. Leading up to J.Crew’s bricks and sticks arrival, free international shipping was offered on its website, but the HK prices for items themselves were higher than on the US site. I assumed the hike was to make up for the free shipping.

See the little HK flag?

Well played, J.Crew. I like the mahjongg tiles.

I stopped in at the new J.Crew store a day after it opened; however I soon realized I would not be frequenting the new Hong Kong branch. There was only a small selection of t shirts and shorts, but prices were big – anywhere from 10 to 30% more than in the US. Of course, most of the relatively small shop is dedicated to J.Crew Collection, a selection of clothes made with extra J.Crewiness.  I like J.Crew (and will have an order waiting for me in the US) but not at such a markup.

Rare and Special, apparently.

Rare and Special, apparently.

I’ve read that the parent company is looking to start a chain with offerings closer to J.Crew Factory prices called J.Crew Mercantile (who remembers Gap Factory?), but I doubt we’d see that store here in HK, and I doubt I’d want to pay up for whatever they would charge in HK. What I don’t doubt is that plenty of Mainland retail tourists will be happy to pay J.Crew’s “rare and special” pricing.