Retail in Asia

In Shops

Staying in fashion is a tough sell

International fashion labels have turned China into their main battlefield this summer, opening one new store a week as they bid for the spending power of wealthy consumers in the world’s number two economy.

Prominent among the labels expanding their presence in China’s shopping malls at a time when slow economic recovery in the US and a worsening debt crisis in the euro zone have forced Western consumers to tighten their spending, are Italy’s MaxMara, and Gap, the iconic US fashion brand.

But it’s not easy to make money in China, where rapid rent rises have forced some global retailers such as Nokia, once the world’s number one mobile phone maker, to close their stores.

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(Source: scmp.com)