Dairy Queen计划今年四季度重返香港并开设4家门店

American ice cream chain Dairy Queen will open four Hong Kong outlets in the fourth quarter of this year, as part of an ambitious expansion plan amid the widespread closure of food and retail shops. Dairy Queen, an 85-year-old brand, said on Friday that it would launch its flagship store at the One Causeway Bay shopping centre on Hong Kong Island in November, followed by three other outlets in Kowloon, the New Territories and the outlying islands before the end of the year. “Following Causeway Bay, the Kwun Tong store in Kowloon is already under hoarding,” the company said. “A total of four stores are set to open this quarter, strategically covering Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories and the outlying islands.” The Kwun Tong store is located in The Angle shopping centre. The coming stores mark the brand’s return to Hong Kong after a short-lived opening in Causeway Bay in 1979. The company said it had a fresh store concept tailored for Hong Kong, featuring five product lines, including milkshakes, parfaits and uniquely designed ice cream cakes. It said the city’s products would include its signature soft-serve dessert, which it described as “thick enough to hold when the cup is turned upside down” and made with an exclusive full-fat dairy mix and an air overrun of about 40 per cent to maintain texture. Edwin Lee Kan-hing, founder and chief executive of Bridgeway Prime Shop Fund Management, said Dairy Queen’s entry into the market comes after a sharp fall in retail rents and shop values, creating lower entry costs for foreign brands even as legacy merchants using older business models continue to shut down. Traditional dim sum and Chinese restaurants have been closing across the city, with the Star Seafood Restaurant Group closing numerous branches in 2025 and this year, and the 35-year-old Metropol Restaurant in Admiralty shutting in September last year. “Out with the old and in with the new,” Lee said, pointing out that commercial rents in core districts had dropped by 60 to 70 per cent from peak levels in 2013 and 2014. With lower rents and strong tourist spending power, more foreign brands would come to Hong Kong, he said. “It would not be surprising if two or three out of every 10 new outlets eventually close,” Lee said. He also characterised Dairy Queen’s decision to open four branches across four different parts of the city as a marketing tactic intended to gain rapid visibility. “The weather is getting hotter and hotter, so more people will eat ice cream, and tourists also like to eat ice cream,” Lee said. “They won’t wait for northbound consumption just to eat ice cream. A cup is only a few dozen dollars.” Lee said foreign brands had been closely monitoring tourist arrival numbers, with recent increases encouraging them to expand their operations to Hong Kong. The city welcomed 31.22 million visitors in the first seven months of 2026, an 11 per cent increase year on year. The total value of Hong Kong’s retail sales rose for the 15th consecutive month in July, with the government reporting an uptick of 4.5 per cent from last year. Sales in the first seven months of the year grew by 8.9 per cent year on year. Lee also noted that certain niche industries, such as traditional cafes, cigar stores and gold shops, were expanding alongside international brands to capitalise on cheaper leasing terms.