SaSa International has seen an improvement in its retail sales decline in Hong Kong and Macau, with total retail sales down 2 percent for the second quarter of the financial year, according to the Group’s unaudited sales update for 1 July to 30 September 2016 and National Day Golden Week Holiday.

Transactions were up 3.9 percent thanks to traffic growth, with transactions from Mainland Chinese visitors rising 5.9 percent, while local customers’ purchases grew 1.8 percent.

However, a report published by The Hong Kong Standard suggests that the retailer may be forced to move away from tourist areas if rents remain at their current levels. SaSa Chairman Simon Kwok Siu-ming noted that 60 percent of sales came from neighbourhood locales.

Kwok told The Hong Kong Standard that letting contracts were being renegotiated, with one renewal achieving a 60 percent rent reduction for the perfumery chain’s Causeway Bay site.