Sogo is THE department store for HK. Sure, you can go to the more local joints like Wing On, or the ultra high end lie Lane Crawford. However, for those of us how are middle of the road, Sogo is our best bet. If you are familiar with the UK stores, you could probably equate Sogo with John Lewis.
As with most department stores around the world, you can imagine what Sogo sells. They have a good range of home-wares, male and female clothing, sporting goods, travel goods, jewellery, perfumes, make up. The store is even laid out like every other department store in the world. There must be some psychology to it!
Compared with local shops, so that is a little on the pricey side. There are very few discounts to be had, they don't very often have sales. You are pretty much buying the RRP on all products. However, they do stock a very good range, so if you are after something in particular, it's very likely that Sogo will stock it.
I also find the staff at Sogo a little bit more knowledgeable about their department products, so I often go to browse products, get advice, and then buy from a cheaper store. A good example is the electrical products, where i can have a good look here, and then buy in Fortress.
What I do particularly like about Sogo, is their returns policy. I find that many Hong Kong stores have a pretty rotten returns policy, stating in big letters on all their receipts, "No Refunds". I recently had an issue with some poor manufacturing of a product that I bought from Sogo, and they very graciously and very quickly replaced the product without any fuss. They took it upon themselves to replace it with the manufacturer.
Sogo also has a very good wedding list service. Having browsed many shops and department stores in Hong Kong, in the pursuit of a good wedding list, I found Sogo has by far the best. They have a great range of stock to choose from, their credit policy is very flexible, whereby you can replace any item with store credit and vouchers.
I think a lot of local Hong Kongers do love to hate Sogo, but it is a very good department store. If you're visiting or living here,it is definitely worth a visit for a bit of a shop. read more