Shopping under the stairs : the last of the understairs shops in Kowloon City district

Abstract

Understairs shop as a special business operation mode in Hong Kong which occupies the small surplus space adjoining the main staircase at ground floor of tong laus/ composite buildings constructed between the period of pre-war to 1960’s. However, the understairs shops are fading out because of several reasons including change of building design, redevelopment of old urban districts, changing of consumers’ economy, lack of successors and the statutory requirements. Therefore, the number of understairs shops is declining in the recent years and there is an urgency to document the understairs shop before they disappeared. This dissertation aims to study the understairs shops in Kowloon City District (hereinafter named as “the District”), an old urban area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Three major streets in the District are chosen as the study area because both macro and micro changes of the environment can be best illustrated by discussing the reasons of decline of the number of understairs shops in the District. This dissertation will focus on the tangible values of all the understairs shops by recording their locations, shopfronts and layouts in general. Detailed case studies of the shops still in operation from the three chosen study streets will be recorded including their plans and shop layouts in physical status and their intangible values on the shops histories, the selling products, their customers, operating hours and the connectivity to the community including both local neighbourhood and Hong Kong as a whole. This study helps to understand the understairs shops as a traditional form of retailing business of a particular period in Hong Kong. As such, it is a manifestation of a past way of life in Hong Kong and the documentation will serve to provide a more detailed ethnographic picture of the history of Hong Kong.