I don't think they're closing, since they just announce a club membership for HK shop (the store is just moving due to high rent).
https://www.facebook.com/Akb48OfficialShopHongKong/posts/935601993133377 The shop will be moving to D2 Place Shopping Centre. Address: 9 Cheung Yee St, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon It is 2 metro stations away from the old shop. Not far away from the Lai Chi Kok MTR metro station, so it should still be quite convenient to go to.
Oh, not that far of a walk down on Lai Chi Kok road. Speaking of the old store in Dragon Centre, was just watching Line Walker on TVB and they had some scenes filmed there in the exterior, in fact the black decor of the store was how I recognize it was Dragon Centre, haha.
Hi Folks-- I'm relatively new to both Hong Kong and the AKB48 fandom, but for those who were wondering about the (somewhat) newly relocated store, I happened to go by there today. The mall entrance is literally just across the street from the D2 exit of the Cheung Sha Wan MTR station. I was there just as it was opening for the day and there was a decent crowd of customers (about 30 people or so) clamoring around the storefront. It seems like the vast majority of activity the store gets is just for the monthly photo sales (I happened to come across the second day of teams A/K/B/4 October photo sales today). It was pretty interesting as I had no clue what was going on at first. After asking one of the many people there carrying around a photo album, I went up to the counter and purchased a single pack of 5 random Team K 4" x 6" photos for $110 HKD. As I walked out of the store and started opening the pack, it seemed like everyone was surrounding me to see what I would open. What followed was a huge reaction as apparently I opened a "god pack", including Sayanee, Haruppi and I believe Kojimako? (I didn't recognize her immediately and, sadly, can't read kanji). Then came a rush of trade offers as it appears the main reason so many people were lingering around were to trade photos to complete sets of their oshis, as each member has three pictures each month, a close up, a waist up shot, and a 3/4 length. I kept the Sayanee and tried to deal the rest while chatting a bit with the quite friendly group. It was pretty fun, which is good, because it helped dull the pain when I later realized I spent $15 USD for a pack of 5 photos... Otherwise, the goods in the store don't seem particularly remarkable, with one wall appearing to be the Chinese printings of the main AKB singles, plus a handful of larger 8" x 10" portraits, and another wall a bunch of HK/Taiwan AKB48 Official Store branded goods from years ago (such as Flying Get coffee mugs). A couple random team picture fans are on display in one corner plus a few TVs with AKB MVs on loop. There was a display holding some of the team photo packs from past months. (Packs of 5 random photos from members of a particular team and you can only see the front picture. While they had packs for SKE and HKT, there didn't appear to be any packs for NMB though...) There were a few other random things on sale, but I can't remember them now and they still have a "no picture taking" policy in the store. From asking the other people around, it seems like this store is about a quarter of the size of the one that was at Dragon Centre (I'd estimate the current store to be roughly 300 sq ft or so), so I'm guessing the rent savings is pretty substantial and I'd think that the photo sales would be enough that I wouldn't fear it closing down anytime soon. Supposedly the crowd for the initial photo sale on Saturday was three to four times bigger. --------------------------------------------------------------------- PS. If there are any regulars of the HK AKB48 scene around, I was wondering if I could get some translation help please. While I do have some conversational Cantonese skills, my Chinese reading ability is basically nil and Google Translate doesn't always quite cut it. If someone could tell me what benefits I get from being a member (http://www.akb48hk.com/fan/images/1about/HKb.fw.png), I'd be much obliged.
I can't access the link you wrote, but I guess you are referring to this one: http://www.akb48hk.com/fan/images/1about/HK會員２.jpg As this membership system is rather new, and some so-called benefits have not really happened yet, I don't translate one by one. So basically, the main benefits are: 1) Members have the first right to apply for AKB group events in HK (mainly handshake, or for example HKT48's concert). As the quota's are usually oversubscribed, it actually means that you need to be a member for winning a chance to attend these events. 2) Discount price of HKD110 for the monthly photos (instead of HKD130 per pack) 3) There should be a limited version of photo available when you first join, but I think it's still not ready yet.
Thanks Sikanwan. I think they keep changing the link to that stupid image, because I can't access the one you posted, nor the one I originally posted either.... For posterity's sake, it looks like this link is relatively stable: http://www.akb48hk.com/fan/edit-address/shopping/akb48香港官方專門店會員俱樂部會員1年-detail I'm pretty sure that you're looking at what I was referring to, though. Sadly, I just signed up for my membership on Sunday, so I'm guessing I'll be missing out on being able to participate in the autograph/handshake event on 12/4... Perhaps I'll just look on from the sidelines...
Does anyone know whether the HK store is selling any AKB t-shirts? Was wondering where can I get them in HK.
Tickets of HKT48's concert in Hong Kong on 1/17 will be available for public sale on 12/2. https://www.facebook.com/spicaprojects/posts/316976875158701 Based on the experience of Taiwan's public sale, there will only be very limited tickets available. So, good luck. The purchase will be through cityline (http://www.cityline.com/) Don't get frustrated if you can't enter into the system that morning, as I expect the system will be heavily loaded. What AKB T-shirts are you referring to?
For anybody visiting HK, the store is closed until they can find a new location. Spoiler: Notice from official website AKB48香港專門店營業休止及暫停新入會/續會通知 「AKB48香港專門店營業休止通知」 AKB48香港專門店, 為了給大家提供更佳的服務, 決定將會於9月28日(一) 起營業休止。當找到合適地點搬遷後, 專門店將再重開營業, 今後亦請多多指教。 另外, 現行會員加入了的「AKB48官方專門店會員俱樂部」, 同樣為了給大家提供更佳服務, 會員俱樂部將暫停辦理新入會手續, 而2015年8月31日到期之會籍, 亦將繼續有效直至新服務公佈。 9月5日(六)至9月27日(日)期間, AKB48香港專門店將舉行清貨大特賣, 歡迎大家把握今次機會參觀選購(詳情悄後再公佈)。另外, 麻煩已訂購商品而未取貨之會員最遲於9月25日(五)到專門店領取。 今後希望大家繼續支持AKB48 GROUP , 多謝。
Thankyou for your Thankyou for your reply, Considering this is my first overseas trip from Australia, whilst in Hong Kong as the AKB store is closed, is there anywhere else that people would recommend to visit in HK for AKB merch and other Japanese idol themed merchandise?
You can go to Sino Centre (信和中心)in Mongkok. From Mongkok station, exit from exit E, and Nathan Road will be behind you. Then turn left and walk along Nathan Road till you reach the building. In the basement, they sell AKB cds/dvd, magazines, cards and so on.
Is it true that the shop reopened?? I would be very happy if it does, because i'm gonna go to Hong Kong around July and i would LOVE to visit the shop and get some merch!!!
No, the shop didn't reopen. But the management started to operate again for organizing events and selling goods online. Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk
Yeah. The physical store has not reopened, only membership benefits have restarted. The official fb (https://www.facebook.com/Akb48OfficialShopHongKong) mainly posts links to this store: https://akb48.buyee.jp/ They also posted about a handshake event with Okada Nana, Kojima Mako, Nishino Miki on Monday 5/16 (they'll be in Taiwan 5/17). Too bad the rest of Tentoumu Chu aren't going to be there >.< I would have wanted to see Ryoha or Mio in person.
