Cultures of the Far East have long been respected for their keen eye for design. Open 10.30am to 8pm Mondays to Fridays and from 11am to 7pm on weekends at 88 Queen’s Road East is the delightfully quirky Mr Blacksmith “designwarestore” ( ). This ground floor enterprise is musty, dark and curious, packed with toy cars, cardboard cut-out assemblies and mobiles that will have any passersby drooling in no time.
If you’re searching for a good wool shop to finally knit those sweaters for the kids, try the well stocked Cheer Wool Company Limited (Shop 1, GF, 48-62 Hennessy dining table hong kong Road, tel: 2893-6296, ). Choose from Japanese and European yarn, and pick up a pattern book too along with knitting needles and other accessories.
Across the pedestrian street from Hang Lung heading back towards Sogo is the small corner store Fusion (a sports outfits and sports shoes brand at Hong Kong Mansion, 1 Yee Wo Street) that took over in 2018 from Fossil ( , now housed at Harbour City Kowloon and The Peak Tower) with its sporty and dressy watches, leather bags, sunglasses, and clothing.
Well, it’s the back entrance so… Around the circuit and funky little stores and back on Granville Road, take a look at the walk-up stores inside Building No.59 and its neighbours for an eyeful of graffiti, narrow staircases, and some creative whimsy.
There are several jewellery stores on the IFC’s second floor and a selection of trendy stores such as Zara, Mango and Patrizia Pepe on the first floor as soon as you wander in. IFC is the address where Agnès b La Loggia (Shop 3089, IFC Mall, tel: 2805-0678, ) has set up a mammoth 15,000sq ft flagship store.
And if you’re long on conscience and short on time, there’s always duty free shopping at Hong Kong International Airport’s SkyMart in the departure area and the SkyPlaza located in Terminal 2 ( ). Both offer acres of space and browsing before your flight.
Beijing has two, the China International Gallery Exposition and Art Beijing; Shanghai has the newly created ShContemporary, now in its second year; and Hong Kong just launched ART HK. CIGE director Wang Yihan says her fair attracted 40,000 visitors this year, while the more high-toned ShContemporary brought in 25,000 and ART HK 08 had 19,000.
Wet Markets Shoppers can barter at wet markets, the open-air traditional street markets filled with various vendors. To start your journey, complete a furniture profile and work with the CORT Global Network to find exactly what you need for your move abroad.
Twenty-eight levels of shops offer design styles ranging from modern to traditional Chinese – and everything in between. If you are skilled in matching luxury furniture pieces, you can quickly ascertain whether the design you are going for will match the area you have available.