Shanghai Tang’s Mongolian Yurts

I like to occasionally write about great things that I see and I must write about Shanghai Tang’s solution to a problem that would have severely damaged most retail companies.

The executives at Shanghai Tang had a huge problem but they came up with a very clever way to solve that problem and I feel it is worth sharing with you.

Shanghai Tang lost some critical retail space before the Christmas season, they lost their flagship store in Central over 5 months ago and its Pedder Street store closed in October. For those not familiar with Hong Kong’s retail market; there is space and rental war going on due to the limited high end shopping space in this market.

The folks at Shanghai Tang came up with a temporary solution to their problem; they decided to have a tent sale at a prime location. But being the creative geniuses that they are this wasn’t any ordinary tent sale; they made designer Mongolian yurts and placed them on the top of Central Pier 4, creating a festive environment centered on the Mongolian yurts, where inside you could purchase Shanghai Tang merchandise. To give the experience an added edge they designed a limited edition Mongolian collection, the nomadic theme gave the shopping an exotic experience.

Shanghai Tang’s Mongolian yurts where an excellent example of their genius, from it they reaped huge amounts of free publicity and crowds of people shopping in the yurts.

Shanghai Tang is a company I enjoy very much; I look forward to their new flagship store in Central called Shanghai Tang Mansion which plans to open this March. I also look forward to this Chinese New Year’s design collection, for the Year of the Dragon.