Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Pricey Hole-in-the-Wall

Selling a shitload of cameras, we hope?

How much would you pay to buy this 130 square foot shop (the one crowned with the Canon logo)? Before you take a guess, consider that it is located in Hong Kong, specifically on a street (Matheson Street next to Causeway Bay’s tony Times Square) that commands the highest retail rents in the world. Even with that hint, chances are that your guess will be low.
Answer? Try US$23 million. That works out to a whopping $177,971 per square foot. The selling agent claims that the rental yield at that price would be a miniscule 1.5%. However, even that paltry percentage translates into $28,750 per month. Assuming an average sale price for an SLR camera at $800 and a 15% margin to the shop, that means 240 cameras need to be sold each and every month just to cover the rent. That would require a huge amount of selfie-seeking foot traffic to wander in.
Even the local business community, which has gotten desensitized to property prices rising into the stratosphere, think that this case is lunacy. It makes the average market observer wonder what the shop owner is sniffing. Maybe breaking open a few camera cases might reveal more than electronic components...

No comments:

Post a Comment