Founded in Hong Kong, with Hongkong Land
We opened on 1 April 1998 with one client, Hongkong Land, and one discipline, marketing and branding. We remained its retail adviser for 22 years.
About Husband Retail
Places that shape how cities shop.
From Hong Kong, we advise owners, developers and investors on how to plan, lease and market retail destinations across Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
- 1998 founded in Hong Kong on 1 April
- 100+ projects advised
- 20+ markets across Asia, the Middle East and Europe
- 500+ tenancies negotiated and concluded
- 55,000 m² Galaxy Macau Phase 2, fully leased by the 2015 opening
- c. HK$20bn 11 SKIES, awarded to our client New World Development at tender
Our story
Making malls that make customers smile. Since 1998.
We opened in Hong Kong on 1 April 1998 with one client and one discipline. The client was Hongkong Land, and for the first couple of years it was our only one. The discipline was marketing and branding: we handled all the marketing of its Landmark portfolio in Central, down to buying the advertising space.
Husband Retail helps developers and retail destination owners create commercially coherent, customer-relevant retail environments. We connect market understanding, brand requirements and consumer preferences with destination positioning, the development of new retail concepts, tenant mix, leasing and retail planning.
Working alongside clients, architects, planners and specialist consultants, we help align the physical environment with its commercial purpose: attracting suitable retailers, including new-to-market brands, serving customer needs and supporting long-term relevance and trading potential.
Husband Retail is a specialist retail consultancy based in Hong Kong, with experience across Asia and the Middle East and selected projects in Europe.
New retail concepts can give a destination a differentiated offer that responds to customer needs and market opportunities. Attracting new-to-market brands can create distinctive tenant opportunities and new reasons to visit. We identify and engage relevant brands where appointed and where appropriate to positioning and customer demand.
Our commercially informed retail planning connects decisions about tenant mix, zoning, unit configurations and circulation with tenant suitability, leasing potential, customer discovery and operational practicality. We contribute retail strategy and commercial input alongside the architects, planners and specialist consultants responsible for the physical design.
Husband Retail operates as Husband Retail Limited, company number 2417197. Our registered address is Unit 1603–06, 16/F, Alliance Building, 130–136 Connaught Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.
How the practice grew
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Marketing and branding
Where we began in 1998: all the marketing for Hongkong Land's Landmark portfolio in Central, our first client.
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Planning
Positioning, zoning and tenant mix, then layout, design review and design development with the architects, with surveyors on our own team.
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Leasing
Built on our relationships with brands and on the malls we had planned. The first significant mandate was Elements, Hong Kong.
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Tenant and brand representation
Acting for a brand entering a market, up to the signed lease. We have represented Ralph Lauren, Armani Group and others.
Our history
Each of these projects added a discipline, a format or a market.
Since 1998 our appointments have run from the marketing of Central's Landmark portfolio to resort retail in Macau, premium outlet villages in China, airport retail in Hong Kong and a 1 million sq ft mall in Kuala Lumpur that opens in November 2026.
Casino and resort retail in Macau
The resort opened in 2007. Casino and integrated resort retail has been one of our formats since, and Galaxy Macau followed.
Elements makes leasing our third discipline
Our first significant leasing mandate, for MTR Corporation, was limited to brands not yet in Hong Kong. We brought in Damiani from Italy, Karen Millen from the UK, Megu from New York and H&M.
The premium outlet village reaches China
Suzhou Village opened in 2014, the first of Value Retail's two premium outlet villages in China; Shanghai Village followed in 2016. As leading leasing partner we secured the stores for both openings, and we have advised Value Retail for about twelve years.
Galaxy Macau Phase 2 opens fully leased
Galaxy Entertainment appointed us exclusive leasing agent for Phase 2. Its 55,000 m² was fully leased when it opened on 27 May 2015, and the same client has since re-engaged us for Phase 4.
Airport retail: the 11 SKIES tender
We advised New World Development on its tender for Sky City, now 11 SKIES, at Hong Kong International Airport. Our client was awarded the right to develop and manage the project, valued at about HK$20 billion.
The mall at Merdeka 118 opens
The 1 million sq ft mall at Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur opens in November 2026. We have worked on it for fourteen years, first planning the mall for PNB and then as joint exclusive leasing agent.
Wider reach, AI and market intelligence
The next stage is wider reach beyond the markets we work in today. We aim to lead in AI strategy and its application to retail real estate, and to build market intelligence for owners: reports, conferences and a community of landlords' senior and middle management.
Long appointments
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22 years
as retail adviser to Hongkong Land, our first client, from 1998
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12+ years
as retail adviser to Value Retail, from its first premium outlet village in China
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14 years
on Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, from planning to the mall's opening
Markets and formats
One set of disciplines, carried from Hong Kong into new markets and formats.
From Hong Kong we moved into mainland China and Taiwan, then into Southeast Asia; London and the Middle East followed at about the same time. The disciplines stayed the same. What changed was the format, and with it the customers we were planning for.
Markets, in the order we entered them
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Hong Kong
Where we began in 1998: the Landmark portfolio for Hongkong Land, Elements for MTR Corporation and 11 SKIES for New World Development.
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Macau and mainland China
The Venetian Macau and Galaxy Macau; Three on the Bund in Shanghai; Suzhou Village and Shanghai Village for Value Retail.
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Taiwan
Bellavita in Taipei.
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South and Southeast Asia
Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur for PNB, DLF Emporio in New Delhi for DLF, and Colombo City Centre.
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London and the Middle East
Covent Garden in London for Capco, and Lusail Boulevard in Qatar.
Formats
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Mixed-use
Retail inside a larger development of offices, hotels and serviced apartments. Elements in Hong Kong; Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur.
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Standalone centres
A shopping centre developed in its own right, with no offices, hotels or serviced apartments above it.
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Premium outlet
Outlet villages selling merchandise up to a year old, which is what premium denotes. Suzhou Village and Shanghai Village for Value Retail.
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Casino and integrated resort
Retail within a casino or integrated resort. The Venetian Macau and Galaxy Macau.
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Marina and waterfront
Retail planned around a marina: the Maldives, and Amaala in Saudi Arabia.
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Transit-oriented
Retail on a major subway, airport link or railway. Elements above Kowloon Station; 11 SKIES at Hong Kong International Airport.
The founder
Paul Husband spent about ten years on Pacific Place and the Swire portfolio before founding Husband Retail in 1998.
Paul Husband has been in Hong Kong since 1985. Dentsu hired him to launch Pacific Place, and for the first three years he worked from Swire Properties' offices, building the team and taking the centre through its soft opening and its grand opening.
Swire then hired him as head of marketing for Pacific Place and two other malls in the same division; in all he spent about ten years on the Swire portfolio. The marketing was resourced to match, with an 18-person team and an annual budget of several million US dollars.
Pacific Place was planned as a destination brand, and the case for planning it that way rested on spending per visit: Swire's research found that visitors who came for the experience spent about three times as much per visit as purpose shoppers. For several years the centre was the second most productive mall in the world, after the Forum Shops in Las Vegas.
He left with a knowledge of sales productivity across every category, hundreds of relationships and the trust of brands. He secured Hongkong Land as a client before he resigned, and founded Husband Retail in Hong Kong on 1 April 1998. He has led the firm since, as Founder and Managing Partner.
Paul Husband
Founder & Managing Partner
Leadership
The founder leads the firm from Hong Kong.
Paul Husband is Founder and Managing Partner. Our team includes surveyors and people who have worked for well-known landlords, and it works as one team across borders.
Paul Husband
Founder & Managing Partner
Paul Husband has been in Hong Kong since 1985 and has spent more than three decades in Asian retail real estate, first on the Swire portfolio and then as an adviser.
Under his leadership the firm has acted for Hongkong Land, MTR Corporation and New World Development in Hong Kong; for Galaxy Entertainment in Macau; for DLF in New Delhi; for Value Retail in Suzhou and Shanghai and for House of Three Ltd in Shanghai; for PNB in Kuala Lumpur; and for Capco in London.
In 2006 he co-authored The Cult of the Luxury Brand. The firm's work since has ranged from luxury to premium outlet, resort, airport and transit-oriented retail.
Who we work with
We act for owners, developers and investors, and for one brand at a time.
Our clients are the parties that build, own or buy a retail destination. We also act for brands, on narrow terms.
Developers
A developer planning a new centre has to decide whom it is for, how it is laid out and zoned, and which trades and tenants it needs. We define the positioning, plan the retail mix, work through design review and design development with the architects, run the leasing and plan the marketing. Elements for MTR Corporation, Galaxy Macau Phase 2 for Galaxy Entertainment and Merdeka 118 for PNB were appointments of that kind.
Investors and owners
An investor buying or holding a centre needs to know how each part of it trades and what should change. We read turnover rent and monthly sales reports category by category, define the repositioning and plan a leasing strategy in which strong tenants move up and weak ones make way. Three on the Bund for House of Three Ltd and Covent Garden for Capco were repositioning appointments.
Retailers and brands
A brand entering a new market has to choose the centre, the size of the store and its neighbours. Store sizes and adjacencies are what we plan on the landlord's side, so we know how to judge them for a tenant. We have represented Ralph Lauren, Armani Group and others. The limits are firm: one retail brand at a time, market entry only, up to the signed lease. What the store then sells, and how, is the operator's business; we do not consult on retailing itself.
Selected relationships named in our published company record.
Developers and investors
- Hongkong Land
- MTR Corporation
- New World Development
- AIG Global Real Estate
- DLF Universal
- Value Retail
- Galaxy Macau
- Permodalan Nasional Berhad
- Brookfield
- KKR
- Hysan Development
- Ayala Land
Retailers and brands
- Bottega Veneta
- Burberry
- Cartier
- Chanel
- Christian Dior
- Dean & DeLuca
- Harvey Nichols
- Louis Vuitton
- Prada
- Ralph Lauren
- Tiffany & Co.
- H&M
Selected work
Selected work from more than 100 projects.
| Project | Client, market | Our role | Datum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central / The Landmark | Hongkong Land, Hong Kong | Our first client, from 1998: consultancy, marketing, co-leasing | Three-fold increase in average spending and visits to the portfolio |
| Elements | MTR Corporation, Hong Kong | Planning and leasing; our first significant leasing mandate | New-to-market brands only, including Damiani, Karen Millen and Megu |
| Galaxy Macau Phase 2 | Galaxy Entertainment, Macau | Exclusive leasing; re-engaged for Phase 4 | 55,000 m² fully leased by the 2015 opening |
| Suzhou Village and Shanghai Village | Value Retail, China | Leading leasing partner for its first two premium outlet villages in China | Stores secured for the 2014 and 2016 openings |
| DLF Emporio | DLF, New Delhi | Sole leasing agent, luxury international brands | Premises secured for Dior, Cartier, Gucci and others |
| Three on the Bund | House of Three Ltd, Shanghai | Repositioning | Niche retail with 6 award-winning restaurants and bars |
| 11 SKIES | New World Development, Hong Kong International Airport | Tender advisory | Client awarded the right to develop and manage the project, valued at about HK$20 billion |
| Merdeka 118 | PNB, Kuala Lumpur | Planning, then joint exclusive leasing | 1 million sq ft mall, opens November 2026 |
| Lusail Boulevard | Lusail, Qatar | Tenant mix and leasing strategy, alongside McKinsey & Co. | Interest of 40–50 international anchor tenants |
| Covent Garden | Capco, London | Repositioning | Luxury fashion and F&B anchors secured |
Source: Husband Retail project credentials.
Contact
We begin with your asset and the decisions ahead of it.
You may be planning a new centre, repositioning one that is already trading, preparing a tender or taking a brand into a new market. In each case we start from the same question: what will delight the customers of that place. If you would like to discuss it, we are at Room 301, 8 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong, on +852 2659 9280 and at carmen.law@husband-retail.com.
Telephone
Office
Room 301, 8 Queen's Road East
Wanchai, Hong Kong
Wanchai, Hong Kong