Hong Kong's Sneaker Street lost its two oldest shops in one summer

Mong Kok's Fa Yuen Street and Sai Yeung Choi Street earned the nickname 'Sneaker Street' (波鞋街) in the 1990s, when the block held dozens of shops selling limited-edition trainers and imported sportswear to buyers who queued for releases they could not get elsewhere. Chicago Sports opened there in March 1993 and at its peak ran three branches. Tai Chung Sports had traded on the same block even longer, tracing back to the 1950s.

Both closed within weeks of each other in 2025. Chicago Sports announced on Facebook in November 2024 that it would shut when its lease expired, and cleared its final stock — Nike, Adidas, Porter and Supreme — at 30% off before closing in February 2025. Tai Chung Sports followed at the end of June 2025, discounting stock by up to 80% after its owner described years of 'struggling to survive.'

Neither closure was attributed to a single event. Both shops pointed to the same shift: sneaker buyers who once had to visit Mong Kok in person to find a limited release could now order the same shoe directly from an overseas retailer or resale app, making a street of small physical shops redundant for the customer it was built around.