'Landlords must help retail tenants boost sales'
A property expert on Tuesday said landlords should look beyond rental levels and work with retail tenants to drum up business. Jones Lang LaSalle said around 44 percent of retail operators it surveyed identified soaring rentals as their biggest business challenge.  Oliver Tong, the firm's head of retail, said landlords should help tenants become more competitive. "Other than rent, I think in the future, landlords will need to work hand in hand with the retailers or F&B operators to give them support for example, design, to give them advice in operations because if we are trying to target small to medium enterprises in Hong Kong, that is the support they need."  Tong said local businesses need to be distinct in order to stand out against regional and online competitors, and landlords and tenants can collaborate to infuse new shopping concepts into malls.  "Many of the people that we have surveyed, they believe they would want more shops that have their own characteristics, rather than a chain store. However, in order to target those trades or those small and medium shops, they likely need support in terms of design," he said. "Cause they might be very good at doing what they are good at, but they are not very sophisticated in terms of design, in terms of construction, and in terms of operations. So by means of partnership, I think the landlord will need to offer them support in those perspectives, other than rental subsidies."  Jones Lang LaSalle also highlighted several other challenges facing Hong Kong's retail market, including competition from other cities, a rise in online sales and a change in tourist shopping habits.