US-based sandwich chain Eggslut is set to pull out of Hong Kong this month, less than two years after opening in Causeway Bay.
Its sole outlet in the city’s shopping thoroughfare – opened to much fanfare and long queues in 2022 – will shutter on February 23.
“[W]e must say goodbye for the time being. When the right moment comes, we will regroup and return, and we hope to see all of your smiling faces once again. Thank you Hongkongers!” a message on the brand’s Instagram page read on Wednesday.
According to the Census and Statistics Department, restaurant earnings fell by 1.3 per cent year-on-year to HK$26.7 billion in the third quarter of 2024.
Last year, Outback Steakhouse closed nine of its 19 branches citing operational costs and “current market conditions.”
Among the other brands which exited Hong Kong last year were health product chain CR Care, Flash Coffee, Garrett Popcorn, lifestyle brand Paul & Joe, and DCH Food Mart.
MCL Cinemas Plus+ Plaza Hollywood closed last December – the seventh local cinema to shutter in 2024.
Also last year, 70 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses surveyed by the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association and Junior Chamber International Hong Kong said their income had dropped below pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels.
See also: As restaurants across Hong Kong close, one eatery blames exodus for dwindling diners
The city’s finance chief has insisted the situation is improving, though it was revealed on Monday that economic growth slowed to 2.5 per cent last year, with the authorities warning of “heightened uncertainties” into 2025.
Founded by chef Alvin Cailan in 2011, Eggslut began as a food truck in Los Angeles, before expanding to stores around the world, including in the UK, Japan and South Korea.
HKFP has reached out to Eggslut for comment.
Hongkongers head north for F&B
The fall in consumption has been attributed to the rising trend of Hongkongers crossing the border to Shenzhen, where shopping and dining are more affordable.
Some restaurateurs have also blamed a rise in the number of middle-class Hongkongers moving abroad.
The Hong Kong government denied claims of an “exodus” during the Covid-19 pandemic and the enactment of a controversial security law, even as the population shrank from about 7.48 million to 7.34 million between 2020 and mid-2022, according to official figures.
The population rose to 7.5 million in 2023, partly due to arrivals from mainland China.
