Hong Kong retail slump claims another victim as Thai dessert shop deserts

Hong Kong retail slump claims another victim as Thai dessert shop deserts

Thai dessert chain After You Dessert Cafe will exit the Hong Kong market, closing its two shops after three years amid the city’s continuous slump in retail sales.

“Farewell! Thank you for your support since January 2022,” the company said in a social media post on Tuesday. “Our last day in Hong Kong will be April 27. Though we are saying goodbye (for now), we hope to see you again.”

The brand, known for its shaved ice treats and honey toast, entered Hong Kong during the Covid-19 pandemic with its first international branch, on Tang Lung Street in Causeway Bay. That shop closed in July 2022. The cafe’s current shop on Lee Tung Avenue in Wan Chai has now closed, and its remaining location in Airside at Kai Tak will operate until Sunday.

The exit comes as the city’s retail sector remains mired in a downturn that is putting further pressure on the weak retail property market.

Originally established in Bangkok in 2007, After You rapidly expanded to more than 30 outlets in Thailand. The owner chose Hong Kong as its first overseas expansion “because it is one of her favourite cities”, according to its website.

Hong Kong’s retail sales dropped for a 12th straight month in February, sliding 13 per cent to HK$29.4 billion (US$3.8 billion) from a year earlier, according to official data. Sales in the first two months of 2025 shrank 7.8 per cent from a year earlier as local residents spent a big chunk of their discretionary income across the border in Shenzhen and elsewhere.

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