[Pekkerhead]

...I wonder if they will be having a closing down sale?

Kingfisher to close B&Q store in Kowloon Bay - The Standard

[wtbhotia]

ah that sucks, that place has everything u need for your house, have bought lots of stuff from there.

[TigerSun]

Before they opened, I figured this was what HK needed, a large one-stop-shop for people to repair and improve their homes and apartments. I thought Home Depot would do well here.

After cruising B&Q's vast empty store I realized I was wrong.
HK will never be a do-it-yourselfer town... just hire somebody to do it.
Too bad for the B&Q people and staff.

[timklip]

i can see the clock ticking for Spotlight too...that place has been a ghost town every time I've bothered to go...

HUGE spaces to fill in that building....

[Star Gazer]

for one thing, not most people have a garage or an extra utililty space to hack, saw and do diy stuff.

[TigerSun]

Originally Posted by Star Gazer

for one thing, not most people have a garage or an extra utililty space to hack, saw and do diy stuff.

That's true. Most people here live in apartments so the product mix focusing on houses and gardens doesn't work.

However, there is a lot of Do-It-Yourself things like painting that do not involve alot of learning or a big tool investments... a couple of brushes and rollers. It'd just too easy to pickup the phone and hire low-cost labour.
I wonder how many IKEA sales are self-assembly as opposed to delivered and installed? (In North American, IKEA does not assemble it for you). I'm not criticising this, just saying that's the way it is and Western merchandisng concepts are not easily imported into HK.

[UK/HKboy]

to be honest, i don't think its a problem with the concept of the store but to do with location.

i went to megabox once and really could not be bothered to go again. its a long walk from the MTR and the shuttle buses can get pretty full. there is actually a bigger shopping centre above Kowloon Bay mtr which means there are really not many reasons to go all the way to Megabox.

it was just poor planning which is a shame because its an impressive mall in terms of design. the shops there like spotlight and b&Q have some nice stuff. i went to the Neway Karaoke place there and it was beautiful, excellent views, huge private rooms, fancy decor... but why would i want to go? the shuttle bus stops about 11ish... there are few public buses nearby. Neway actually put on their own buses but its an on-demand service and i dread to think how much money they would be losing there.

[TigerSun]

Originally Posted by UK/HKboy

to be honest, i don't think its a problem with the concept of the store but to do with location.

i went to megabox once and really could not be bothered to go again. its a long walk from the MTR and the shuttle buses can get pretty full. there is actually a bigger shopping centre above Kowloon Bay mtr which means there are really not many reasons to go all the way to Megabox.

Yeah, I was absolutely amazed that they didn't put it on the main transit line, the whole shuttle-bus thing was a kiss-of-death. Trying to save on footage costs?... ignoring the top 3 rules for retail: location, location, location.

[Boris]

Originally Posted by UK/HKboy

to be honest, i don't think its a problem with the concept of the store but to do with location.

i went to megabox once and really could not be bothered to go again. its a long walk from the MTR and the shuttle buses can get pretty full. there is actually a bigger shopping centre above Kowloon Bay mtr which means there are really not many reasons to go all the way to Megabox.

it was just poor planning which is a shame because its an impressive mall in terms of design. the shops there like spotlight and b&Q have some nice stuff. i went to the Neway Karaoke place there and it was beautiful, excellent views, huge private rooms, fancy decor... but why would i want to go? the shuttle bus stops about 11ish... there are few public buses nearby. Neway actually put on their own buses but its an on-demand service and i dread to think how much money they would be losing there.

Totally agree, went once never went again. Too much hassle unless you have a car. Have been to the IKEA's loads of times because they are in convenient locations.

[bookblogger]

Originally Posted by UK/HKboy

Karaoke place ... excellent views

That's a new one on me... never been to a karaoke bar with windows before!