Apple Shuts Hong Kong Stores Early as Fears of Lawlessness Rise -- Update
July 22 2019 - 8:03AM
Dow Jones News
By Chuin-Wei Yap
HONG KONG--Tech giant Apple Inc. shut its stores early citywide
on Monday, as fears of escalating violence and spiraling
lawlessness linked to weekslong protests spurred concern among
businesses and the public.
A day after police fired tear gas in clashes with thousands of
protesters, Hong Kong remains on edge as officials conceded no
ground and activists accused the government of coddling a rise in
vigilante justice. In the north of the city, a mob of white-shirted
men stormed a subway station late Sunday and beat people whom they
blamed for taking part in the earlier antigovernment protests,
leaving 45 people injured.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam condemned the violence
Monday as she was questioned by reporters about a breakdown in law
and order in the city following weeks of antigovernment protests.
But fears of new clashes in the city's northern districts spread on
social media.
Moves by some businesses to close early come as concern rises
over the impact of the social turmoil on the city's economy.
Apple joined a raft of other businesses across the city that
chose to shut or send staff home early on Monday. A spokeswoman for
the Cupertino, Calif.-company directed queries to information on
store hours on its website.
Five of the semiautonomous region's six Apple stores shut at 4
p.m., five to six hours ahead of normal closing hours. The
remaining store was shut all day. Apple's website referred to
Monday's arrangement as "special store hours."
At a branch of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.'s Hollister--next to
an Apple store in the shopping belt of Causeway Bay--a Hollister
employee said some staff were allowed to leave early to get home to
Yuen Long, a suburb close the border with mainland China where the
attack at the subway station happened Sunday night.
Estée Lauder Co. at 2:40 p.m. Monday sent a notice to Hong Kong
employees, asking those who live in Yuen Long and Tuen Mun, another
suburb, to "leave the office as soon as possible," according to an
internal email reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Estée Lauder
didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
"We continue to monitor the situation in Hong Kong," the email
said, advising staff to avoid certain malls in these suburbs.
Businesses in malls in Yuen Long mostly shut early on Monday
too. Police didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment.
This isn't the first time that major stores have shut early in
the protests that have rocked Hong Kong these past two months.
Dozens of retailers in and around downtown, including the massive
IFC Mall that greets most tourists upon arriving on Hong Kong
island, sent staff home early or completely shut in mid-June during
an incident in which protesters blocked roads and clashed with
police.
Eli Binder, Joyu Wang and Natasha Khan contributed to this
article.
Write to Chuin-Wei Yap at chuin-wei.yap@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 22, 2019 07:48 ET (11:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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