Upstairs Stores, or you can call them “Lau Sheung Po” in Cantonese, have become more popular in recent years in Macao. By looking at the name, you already have the idea that these stores are not on the ground floor, which is totally different from normal stores along the street. As they are upstairs, the rent is not as high as normal stores, which give a chance for people to start a business.

There are different types of “upstairs stores”, such as a book store, cafÈ, fashion boutique, sashimi store and facial treatment centre. People can find all these stores in the Secendo Square, Rua do Campo and Macao Ferry Street.

In the Macao Ferry Street, there is an upstairs boutique called “APPS”, specializing in male fashion. The store is owned by two brothers, Arnold Tang and Anakin Tang, both of them are passionate about fashion.

“It’s very hard to start a business in Macao as the rent is extremely high,” Anakin said. Originally, both of them wanted to open the store in ground floor, which is the same as the normal stores, but due to the high rent, they changed their mind. “The rent for upstairs is not as high as the original store, so we have to put more effort promoting our products via website,” Arnold added.

Apart from the high rent that they have to face, the other problem is the number of customers. As the store is located upstairs, it is not easy for people to discover that there is a store right up there. They need to promote their store via its official website and Facebook. Arnold is a photographer, Anakin is a model, which makes a perfect match for them to put on their products, take photos and upload them on the website. As the Internet and social network media are very powerful tools, they put a lot of effort on their website and Facebook page. People can get news or information about the latest products by browsing their website. Customers can inquire about the prices and receive replies via the Internet. They can place an order online as well.

The high rent problem in Macao is getting worse; it has become the obstacle for people to run their business. One of the customers who always visits the store said, “It is one of the ways to tackle the high rent situation in Macao, and I think the idea of having an upstairs store is very fresh and interesting.”