EDINBURGH-based Museum Context, which sells officially licensed Harry Potter products, has opened a store at Hong Kong International Airport as it progresses its expansion plans in Asia.
The store opening builds on Museum Context’s sizeable presence in Hong Kong, and will allow the independent retailer to sell its wares to travellers from all over the world.
Museum Context noted that the airport handled 74.7 million passengers last year, connecting to more than 220 destinations worldwide. The retailer, run by chartered architect Andrew McRae, first moved into Hong Kong in 2011. It already has stores in the Causeway Bay retail district, Taikoo Shing and Harbour City.
Museum Context noted the new shop was located landside at the airport and had been “designed to arouse curiosity and echo the feel of the retailer’s flagship store” in Victoria Street in Edinburgh’s Old Town. It declared Victoria Street was “believed to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley, where Harry Potter and his fellow wizards would buy their wands and other magical goods”.
It noted that JK Rowling was living and writing in Edinburgh when she “conjured up the vision of the now-famous hidden shopping street for wizards that first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”.
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Museum Context said the new airport store was an “immersive shopping experience”.
Mr McRae, who is the Scotland policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Museum Context is a creative family business, and we are very ambitious for its future. We are delighted to have opened our first airport store. It is a big win for us as we continue with our expansion plans in Asia, and will raise the profile of our offering in the region.”
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