Interview held on January 18, 2017, just before the shop closed.
Q: How long have you been running this shop?
Agnes: At this location … 21 years.
Q: Where were you before?
Agnes: We were at Yi Chun Street, diagonally across from the Standard Chartered Bank close by Shun Kee City Houseware… We started there in 1979 …
Q: Why did you move from there to here?
Agnes: We operated there from 1979 till 1991 … Then my daughters and I went to New Zealand … my husband remained here and continued working on the wholesale side of the business … and my employees and my sister-in-law looked after the shop in retail … Then a fire broke out … and they decided after that to try something new – sushi … they did sushi in that shop space for a few years … and eventually stopped as there were too many regulations in that business … It was then 1995 and my daughters and I had come back to HK from NZ … and from 1995 till now … my husband and I operated the shop here … with my husband on the wholesale side of the business and me on the retail side …
Q : Why did you choose to open a shop in SK ?
Agnes: We liked to come to Sai Kung often to fish … Over time we got to know an elderly man in Yi Chun Street … He said he did not want to continue his business and wanted to return to the UK … He wanted us to take over … We said we didn’t know how to run a business but he told us we could try … His shop was like a department store with a large inventory … We trimmed that down gradually … When we first took over the business we were not working full time on it … I was teaching and my husband was a salesman in a large company … I could only man the shop in the afternoon and I asked a friend to look after the shop in the morning … After a while my friend was not able to help me anymore so I quit my teaching job … … … I worked there until 1991 when my daughters and I went to NZ My daughters were about 7-8 years at that time …
Q: Are you happy working here?
Agnes: Quite happy … I have very good customers … like you … we can chat … When I see a familiar face coming in the shop it gives me a warm feeling … We have thought of changing the nature of our business over the years but we couldn’t think of what to do … because every time something came in the way …
Q: Why did you think of changing the nature of your business?
Agnes: Every time we thought of trying something came in the way … In 1983 we were dealing in Japanese made goods … All of a sudden the value of the yen rose so much … It made things impossible for us … Then the Asian financial crisis came and everything collapsed …
Q: When did you start thinking of closing down your business?
Agnes: About 2-3 years ago because we are getting old … over 60 now … Continuously working and not being able to rest is very hard … The government is saying standard working hours are 43-44 hours (per week) … I thought to myself we work more than 88 hours … I thought we better give ourselves some time to travel a bit before we are physically not able to do that anymore … otherwise it would make life quite meaningless.
Q: You thought about closing down your business 2-3 years ago, why are you so determined to do that now?
Agnes: Because of the steep economic downturn … Our business income has dropped 30% … Every year our income dropped … we are operating on the edge … there is no room for development … The turnover and profit are not sufficient to sustain the rent and salaries …
Q: I heard this morning that Starbucks is closing. (We have no confirmation of this –ED.)
Agnes: Really?
Q: I only heard it this morning … I have not gone to ask the owner to confirm this …
Agnes: I think they are paying $100,000 +
Q: I heard that the rental is being raised to 200,000+ … and they cannot sustain it … This needs to be confirmed …
Agnes: Patsy House says their rent is also being increased, making it very difficult for them … I also heard that May’s Sawaddee Thailand’s rental increase is so high that May says she will not be able to cope … She said she’d not be able to serve up enough extra dishes to cover the rental increase … There is no way she could add $10 to each dish … Customers would not pay that …
Q: For you personally, the main reason for leaving is because you want to take some rest,or because the rental increase/business downturn would make it not worthwhile to continue the business … or it’s a combination of the two?
Agnes: Even if my landlord does not increase my rental charge … and I can maintain my business income as it is now for the next two years … I’d still find it quite tight … so I might as well close the business … But I really like the people here in SK … That’s why we have delayed our move for a few more years …
Q: You are closing your shop right after CNY?
Agnes: Middle of February.
Q: What are your plans after that?
Agnes: I think most likely a family reunion … going back to NZ to join my daughters.
Q: Are you emigrating then?
Agnes: I have already emigrated there before … so I am just going back.
Q: Are you going back for good and not coming back here anymore?
Agnes: I would come back … because my mother is here … She is quite elderly now, over 80 years old
Q: Your husband will go to NZ with you this time?
Agnes: Yes, I told him not to live on his own any more … There is no need to continue (working) … I feel we both are very tired now …
Q: Beside reuniting with your daughters when you go back to NZ, as you are still young and energetic, what will you do? Travelling and enjoying yourself a bit?
Agnes: Cannot play around for too long … I am thinking I might learn how to do on-line business … I have heard of some retired people doing that … You don’t need to physically do anything … Say if I join the Amazon platform … I can buy some products and list them there and Amazon will take care of selling/shipping the products and I just need to pay them handling fees …
Q: Are you happy, embarking on a new career ?
Agnes: I am happy … just going to give it a try … just giving it a try … I really want to learn western painting … now that I’ll have the time.
Q: Last question … how do you see SK? Just walking around I see shops closing and new ones opening … How do you see SK’s future?
Agnes: What people say is correct … When one shop closes another one opens in its place … When you see just Saturdays and Sundays you might think everywhere is full of people … very prosperous here … but in reality from Monday to Friday it’s really very quiet … I feel it’s quite difficult to run a business in Sai Kung …
Q: Is it basically due to the high rental charge?
Agnes: Because the population threshold is not sufficient …
Q: So business people need to think seriously before deciding whether to open a shop in SK?
Agnes: Yes, that is true … 2-3 years ago when the international school Hong Kong Academy opens here people said we would do very well … But there was no benefit … Because as soon as school finished everyday the students were transported away.
Q: So you rely on sales to students of the other schools here in SK town?
Agnes: Now we don’t even sell five school bags in a year … Nowadays schools seem to provide a complete package to the students … So we only get to supply those few who either miss out or need extra supplies … So it’s really sunset for our business.
running most any B & M business today is tough just about anywhere with landlords and Amazones, maybe things will be better when AI takes over the government
Time to Name and Shame all these greedy landlords who are killing Sai Kung?