retail
I've been noticing that American clothing retail is getting its ass kicked. Here's the breakdown on HK/Singapore:
7-Eleven: Whatever 7-11 is, it's on every other block, and it's the place to get your stamps and pay your bills as well as get your drinksies and newspaper.
British: Watsons and Mannings are the only drugstores in either town. Marks & Spencer, HMV, and the Body Shop have fabulous coverage. In Singapore I've been walking past Miss Selfridge, TopShop, Dorothy Perkins, River Island, and Club Monaco. Clarks shoes has remarkably good coverage. Harvey Nichols and a couple other department stores are out here. Pizza Express and Spaghetti House are also out here.
Spanish: Zara and Mango are everywhere.
Chinese: Bossini, Giordano, and Baleno are everywhere, offering the cheapest of the cheap.
Scandinavian: H&M is huge, as is IKEA.
Japanese: Muji and Uniqlo. The big department stores are often Japanese, like Jusco and Sogo.
Hong Kong: G2000 business clothes, Sasa cosmetics.
American: Timberland and Esprit are well represented. Toys R Us is here. There's the occasional Puma and Levi's store. I saw a Gap today in Singapore, and I hear there's a Banana Republic here that will sell you last season's clothes at a 25% price increase. No sign of J. Crew, Abercrombie, Ann Taylor, Brooks Brothers, Express, etc. American clothes just didn't make it out to Asia. Fast food, however, is a different story: KFC and McDonald's are everywhere. So's coffee: Starbucks, the Coffee Bean, and Pacific Coffee are the dominant cafes.
In China, it's Bossini-Giordano-Baleno, plus a bunch of stupid local brands for clothes. China has Wal-Mart! And French Carrefour. The KFCs and McDonald's are often 3 or 4 stories (sometimes you can see other KFCs from them). Really, KFCs in China are unbelievable. Pizza Hut is weirdly upscale, with candles and stuff.
You can buy Mentos and Dove chocolate in the middle of nowhere in China. It's extremely strange. I want to see their supply chain.
Pepsi is still dueling with Coke in China.