History of Sneakers Street

In the 1970s as Hong Kong had an economic boom the rents of shops increased suddenly. Some shoe shops who had to move away from the popular Nathan Road due to rent increase pressures looked for nearby locations where there would be cheaper rents.

Fa Yuen Street seemed perfect not only because of it's position close to the busy Nathan Road, but also proximity to La Salle College and Diocesan Boys’ School, two high end schools with many wealthy and fashion conscious teenage students. The perfect place to seel shoes and low rent as at that time Fa Yuen Street was mostly Mahjong dens and small restaurants and shops.

After a few shops were successful here more moved in, and existing shops got new premises and opened branches to expand. By the 1990s there were 40 and now there are more than 50 shops in this 150meter piece of road that are all dedicated to sports shoes.

Due to expansions many of the shops belong to the same company, in fact Wan Kee Sports Co. Ltd is one of the major players with 4 shops on the street, while Toronto Sports Ltd has several as well.

Today the Sports Shoe or Sneakers Street is so well know that even the Hong Kong Tourist Board recognizes it and there are official tourist road signs pointing it out.