text | Hickory
"Especially those who have never been to Yangzhou and have read some Tang poems, in his heart, Yangzhou is as beautiful as mirage ." The person who said this was the writer Zhu Ziqing .
Although his ancestral home is Shaoxing , Zhu Ziqing, who repeatedly emphasized that he was a Yangzhou native, can be regarded as a "new Yangzhou native" in the current fashionable words. If he traveled back to the current Yangzhou City at this moment, he might have a different experience among the commercial complexes everywhere.
From the Yuanmenqiao business district in the late Qing Dynasty to the prosperity of the No. 1 department store in Yangzhou in the 1960s, to the current commercial complex that blooms everywhere in the east, west, south and north urban areas, the story about the "martial dispute" in Yangzhou is still constantly told by old Yangzhou people and new Yangzhou people.
022 Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger, Yangzhou, this city that can rank 24 in China (although in Jiangsu Province, which has only thirteen prefectures, Yangzhou only ranks tenth), A business competition related to history and honor has quietly begun - like most second- and third-tier cities in China, local businesses have almost no power to fight back against external business forces.
The mall is just a node in the skeleton of this city. What’s more important is that the flow of people, logistics and currency flows radiated by the mall have formed an important engine to drive this second-tier city to move forward, and each plays different roles in different historical nodes.
Especially after experiencing the new crown pneumonia epidemic in the summer of 2021, Yangzhou Shopping Mall, which was forced to press the pause button, showed a different enthusiasm than before in this Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger.
Whether it is the crowded stream of people, major brands working hard to sell goods, or even the Yangzhou puppet show performance that frequently appears in order to attract the flow of people. Among the shouts that are heard one after another, this is not only a self-rescue for Yangzhou Shopping Mall itself, but also an exploration and transformation of the business district economy in urban development.
and the winner takes all rule also shows its power here.
50 years, the rise and fall of the three generations of business districts changed
"There are more and more shopping malls at your doorstep." An old Yangzhou native described it like this to Caijing Wuji.
From the map, it is indeed the case. Looking along the central axis of Wenchang Business District in the main urban area, the new business of real estate developers has begun along the commercial complex.
Yangzhou urban map
Next to Aobang Square in the east of Yangzhou City, with RT-Mart as the core business model, they erected high red publicity banners with the words: "Location is the value, the brilliance next to RT-Mart." New real estate advertising slogan next to Aobang Square in Yangzhou (photo by the author)
How to define the shopping mall in Yangzhou? Old Yangzhou people and new Yangzhou people have two completely different sets of logic.
79-year-old Grandma Jing came to Yangzhou from Xuyi, Huai'an in the late 1960s. When she mentioned that she was shopping in the mall, she said that she had to go to the People's Mall.
This department store, located at the intersection of National Day and was built in 1970, was once one of the most iconic commercial buildings in Yangzhou. In the planned economic era, the lively three-story building was filled with various colorful products such as steel and fine enamel, clothing, shoes and hats, household appliances, tobacco, wine and pastries.
In Grandma Jing’s memory, it was an era when you could only buy good goods with tickets. The building of Hardware and Electrical and Chemical Company is far away from the People's Shopping Mall. Grandma Jing remembers that the best electrical appliances sold there are Panda brand TVs.
993's "Yangzhou Business Situation" briefing had a description of "People's Shopping Mall": "People's Shopping Mall conscientiously implements the work requirements of 'big development, high speed, extraordinary, and first-class'... In the first quarter, sales volume reached 25.28 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 64%, completing 56.2% of the annual plan, achieving profits of 730,000 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58.7%, and completing 82.9% of the annual plan. Profit performance jumped to the first place among the 22 large and medium-sized shopping malls in the city's commercial system."
Yangzhou People's Shopping Mall Old Photos
Obviously, the "people's Shopping Malls" represent the traditional retail format in Yangzhou. If you trace it back, it originated from the first generation of business districts in Yangzhou - Yuanmenqiao Business District.
About the lively atmosphere of Yuanmenqiao , Li Dou has detailed verification in "Yangzhou Huafanglu". At that time, Yangzhou had become an important gathering place for the silk weaving industry in the country with its well-connected location advantages.
"Yangzhou Huafanglu" describes it as follows:
"Yuanmenqiao is a gathering place for the cloth industry. In his spare time, wealthy families would shop for more shopping in the market to choose cloth. "
Therefore, there are words like these: "Look at the signboard on the Yuanmen Bridge, the first lively street in Yangzhou."
When the bluestone slab road turned into a wide cement road, the "signatures" that were once large and small disappeared, and were only inherited by the time-honored brands in Yangzhou.
Xie Fuchun , Violet Hair Salon, Hendri Watch ... It was uniformly replaced with neat classic door heads, becoming an internet celebrity check-in place for new Yangzhou people and foreign tourists to find memories of the ancient city.
Grandma Jing still remembers that during the Spring Festival decades ago, Yangzhou people who were queuing up to buy new clothes and daily necessities, squeezed the small storefront of the People's Shopping Mall out of reach. Now that she has lived with her three generations, she also followed the younger generation to visit the emerging shopping malls nowadays, but every time she felt bored.
The dazzling and bright store, looking up, it was a huge Chinese and English logo. After several times, Grandma Jing felt that she was almost lost.
What made her difficult for her to understand was actually the price of the product.
"A piece of clothing is thousands of dollars. "This 79-year-old man abides by the principle of "you get what you pay for" and almost always refuses the "sky-high" gifts given by the younger generation.
This is the shopping guideline of old Yangzhou people. In their eyes, there are two main evaluation systems for measuring "what is a shopping mall": First, look at history, and look at prices.
But this set of rational standards does not work at all for new Yangzhou people. In the eyes of these post-90s and post-00s, shopping malls It is an experiential economy that combines multiple factors. Whether it is the distance, the number of brands, or whether the store has a unique experience, it has become a measure of this group of young people who are in the consumer society.
spanned the 1990s, and at that time the prosperity of the Yuanmenqiao business district was taken over by Wenchang business district.
revolves around the landmark building of Wenchang Pavilion , Golden Eagle International Shopping Center , Wanjiafu Mall and Times Square, etc., formed the second generation of business in Yangzhou Circle, releases a new agglomeration effect. Data shows that around , there were 224 commercial enterprises near Wenchang Pavilion around 2000.
From the timeline, the formation speed of Wenchang business district exceeded the imagination of most Yangzhou people.
996, Wanjiafu Shopping Mall was grandly opened. In 2001, the Yangzhou Golden Eagle Wenchang Store opened, and just one year later, Times Square was officially launched. h The huge changes in consumer places sounded the clarion call for consumption change. With the strong entry of foreign brands such as Chanel and Dior , Yangzhou Golden Eagle set off a trend of high-end consumption. The radiation effect brought by
Wenchang business district has made the main urban area of Yangzhou look brand new, while the three major commercial complexes have each formed different characteristics.
As the first Sino-foreign joint venture commercial retail enterprise in Yangzhou, Wanjiafu is positioned as a mid-range consumer group; Jinying is the mainstream of internationally renowned high-end boutique department stores; Times Square is supported by the traffic from cinemas and popular channels, and the mass entertainment attributes are stronger. Therefore, in the golden age of the second-generation business district, buying new clothes in Wanjiafu, selecting high-end cosmetics in Jinying, watching movies at Times Cinema, and buying some good goods in Xingxiu Street and popular channels was a new consumption trend for young people in Yangzhou at that time. Ms. Gao, who was born in
5, had a deep affection for Yangzhou Golden Eagle.After working at
, she used her first salary to buy herself a bag from Golden Eagle, and that day she applied for Golden Eagle membership card. This year during the Spring Festival, she was preparing to buy a piece of jewelry for her daughter as a Spring Festival gift at the counter of week-old Dafu .
High-end consumption means a change of identity. Most of the consumption stories hidden in the second business district of Yangzhou have plots similar to Ms. Gao. Even with more diverse shopping options now, Wenchang business district has become a high-end consumption symbol, accompanied by generations of Yangzhou people completing their transformation from teenagers to young people.
Of course, the wheels of the city always need to move forward.
In 2008, "Contemporary Economy" had an article about the economy of Yangzhou business district. In the article "Thinking on Establishing a Second Business District in Yangzhou", scholar Cheng Yan analyzed that "Yangzhou is not suitable for the development of a Second Business District" from three aspects: demand factors, competitive factors and economic conditions.
Realistic progress goes beyond theoretical assertions.
Time is turned back in 2007. It focuses on the concept of "full life", covering an area of 2,060 acres, with a total investment of over 10 billion yuan, and officially opened. In the media press release at that time, Jinghua City's "new aircraft carrier" of Asian commercial created by the well-known Taiwanese businessman Shen Qingjing is also regarded as an important commercial achievement in the history of cross-strait economic and trade exchanges.
Yangzhou Jinghua City All Life Plaza during the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger (photo by the author)
As the "sister city" of Huacheng, Taiwan, Yangzhou Jinghua City also continues its fashionable and high-end positioning and is also entrusted with the expectations of Yangzhou's "second business district".
More than ten years have passed, with Jinghua City’s entire life square as the core, Changjian Square, Starry World, Five Color World, Rmall, etc. have formed a more fashionable and younger business circle in Yangzhou. The third-generation business circle in Yangzhou has been formed, which has also made more young generations studying outside the country decide to return to this second-tier city. Wang Yi, who was engaged in foreign trade business after
5, is one of the group who returned home. In 2020, after graduating from Hunan, she resolutely returned to her hometown Yangzhou. Now, with the help of her parents, she has her own nest of about 90 square meters less than an intersection from Jinghua City.
"This is the center of the universe in Yangzhou." Wang Yi is very satisfied with his life at this moment and is also very grateful for his choice.
In the era of stock, the competition in business districts does not believe in tears
From the Yuanmenqiao business district, Wenchang business district to the Jinghuacheng business district, the changes in the three generations of business districts have passed the incremental era of land acquisition, planning and construction. Today, the Yangzhou business district has entered a new stage of stock competition.
Understand this point, which can be seen from this Spring Festival alone.
通官网址 During the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger (photo taken by the author)
On the afternoon of the first day of the Tiger Year, the business district of Jinghua City in Yangzhou was shrouded in a bustle.
The crowds of people flocked to the small living squares. In the center of the mall, in the carefully arranged intangible cultural heritage market, strings of big red lanterns are hung. On the other stage, the New Year puppet show made a major debut with the story of the Three Kingdoms. Amid the cheers that followed, it is hard to believe that they are in a shopping mall.
Image source: Yangzhou Jinghua Quan Life Plaza official WeChat official account
Shopping is no longer a simple and direct consumption behavior. is located in the entire life square of Jinghua City, and it is more like experiencing a crowded and bustle.
Judging from the tweets from the official WeChat official account of the mall, they turned the Spring Festival into a grand program performance. The God of Wealth Parade, National Ceremony Awards, New Year's puppet show and band performances... A cast member who participated in the performance told Caijing Wuji that they had almost no time to rest this Spring Festival.
Interior of the entire life square in Jinghua City, Yangzhou during the Spring Festival (photo by the author)
As long as you visit a few shopping malls in Yangzhou, it will not be difficult for you to understand the busyness of the cast and crew.
Yangzhou Golden Eagle Wenchang Store, which has a history of more than 20 years, has also squeezed into this vigorous performance. Lanterns Tour, sugar painting experience, clay sculpture and paper cutting. During the entire Spring Festival, people who walk into the Yangzhou Golden Eagle Shopping Mall may fall into a busy life that cannot be stopped.
But some people are happy, some people are always worried.
belongs to the Wenchang business district, and Times Square, which is only 100 meters away from the Golden Eagle, seems a little deserted. At around 11:00 am on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Caijing Wuji came to the door of Times Square. In contrast to the lively New Year songs, only a few people entered in front of the door one after another.
Yangzhou Times Square during the Spring Festival (photo by the author)
In fact, the loneliness of Times Square came earlier.
On December 8, 2021, according to the announcement of Alibaba Judicial Auction Network, 59 properties in Times Square, No. 269 Wenchang Middle Road, Yangzhou City will be auctioned soon, with a total starting price of up to 574.6 million yuan, but in the end, it only attracted 5838 onlookers. With no one bid, 59 properties were tragically sold by and .
Finance Wuji found through inquiry on Alibaba’s judicial auction website that the target has started the second round of auction, and has now dropped to 459.685 million yuan. As of press time, a total of 3,919 people watched, but because no one bid, it eventually became a failed ending.
Image source: Alibaba Judicial Auction Network
There is also the Huamao Shopping Center, which belongs to the Wenchang Business District, which is the distance between the two on the map is only 580 meters.
Five years ago, the Huamao Shopping Center was located in Yangzhou and spent the first lively Spring Festival since its opening. The arrival of Chinachem not only fills the shortcomings of Golden Eagle and Times Square's lack of catering formats, but also becomes the C position of Wenchang's business district due to its new entertainment facilities such as cinemas and champion ice rink.
However, prosperity is just the front of the coin.
Under the fundamentals of the unchanging total volume in the urban central area, unlike the previous competition between business districts and business districts, a new round of survival of the fittest between shopping malls in Yangzhou is quietly staged within the circle.
019 and 2020, across the road, CIMC Wenchang and CRV Vientiane opened successively. While diversion of a large number of Chinachem's inherent customer bases, they brought new customer bases under the halo of the "first store effect".
Chinachem and China Resources Vientiane (photo by the author)
Today's Chinachem is showing signs of fatigue after the epidemic.
Around 1:00 pm on the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, there was not much passenger flow in front of the Huamao Shopping Center. There were only huge posters of several brands such as Burger King hanging sporadically on the walls of the mall that were once filled with billboards. On the first floor, except for fast fashion brands such as Uniqlo , which are still open, most stores have chosen to close their stores. Apart from the bright lights, the interior of the mall is empty.
Huamao Shopping Center door is deserted (photo by the author)
, and the Vientiane Hui and CICC across the road are waiting for batches of enthusiastic Yangzhou people in the sound of the joyful New Year music. Where there are people, there must be business, and shopping malls in Yangzhou are well aware of this. From shopping malls to business districts, scholar Liu Siwei once proposed in "On Urban Business Districts" that the natural generation of business districts follows this rule from beginning to end: "Business districts tend to appear in places with large flow of people and convenient transportation, and gradually drive the development of industries such as commodity storage and transportation, food services, and leisure culture." In the eyes of economists, the theoretical framework for studying urban business districts mainly includes central theory and ordinary interaction theory. As the formal proposer of the concept of business district, German economic geographer Christler's central theory believes that with the center as the center and the largest radiation capacity of commodity sales and catering services as the radius, it can form the center of commodity sales and catering services. Christler's business district model is based on an ideal hypothetical environment. For example, the population density of the region must be evenly distributed; for example, the traffic accessibility in the region is equal; for example, both producers and consumers must aim to pursue the maximum profit and the most cost-effectiveness... But the actual environment is dynamic. For example, as long as the "first store effect" of the store and the brand is strong enough, transportation is not a typical constraint. Take Yangzhou China Resources Vientiane as an example. When the only hotpot in Yangzhou's main urban area settled in China Resources Vientiane, it came across the city, and there were quite a few consumers who just wanted to check in. For example, under real conditions, there is considerable randomness in customers going to shopping in business districts or retail companies. Among them, personalized needs such as proximity principle or entertainment priority are becoming increasingly diverse. is only in Yangzhou. For half a century, shopping malls have been rising and falling, whether they are pedestrian streets or commercial streets, or large shopping malls, decline and prosperity have always been alternately carried out. and puts its perspective on the whole country. According to the "China Urban Business District Development Report 2021", there are currently about 2,100 pedestrian streets or commercial streets of a certain scale in my country, and there are more than 5,000 large shopping centers with a total of more than 30,000 square meters nationwide. and they bear the important task of promoting consumption upgrades and improving the quality of residents' consumption. In the "Guidelines for Urban Business District Construction (Draft for Comments)" issued by the Ministry of Commerce's Circulation Development Department in August last year, Finance Wuji found the official definition of "urban business district": " mainly refers to a commercial agglomeration area composed of several commercial complexes and commercial facilities within a certain economic area of the city, and expands to the surrounding area with the commercial agglomeration area as the center, with a certain consumption power, agglomeration and radiation power. The business district with radial power includes core business districts (located in the central area of the city or a specific area), regional business districts (located in the central area of the city) and community business districts (i.e., a quarter of an hour of convenient living circle). "The important trend reflected in the definition of is that business districts have become an important carrier for residents' life support. Similar to the " third space " advocated by " Starbucks ", it can be imagined that the integration and proximity between cities and business districts will be further improved in the future. This is not an easy task. drive across the second-tier city of Yangzhou, and you will find the same "city village" phenomenon as that of big cities: in addition to the upward elevated roads and downward tunnels, there are more dilapidated old city buildings scattered on the edge. Yangzhou Old Town Urban business districts are still an art of choice
It is worth noting that behind the business district, commercial real estate developers will also usher in a new round of reshuffle .
Shenwan Hongyuan pointed out in the study that in the face of different consumer groups, developers with scale and operational advantages have more advantages in developing shopping malls according to local conditions.
This means that developers who already have scale advantages will continue to consolidate their existing advantages. Developers that are good at operating, such as China Resources , will continue to open up the existing commercial management space through optimization and upgrading.
is just a small episode in the long history of Yangzhou, a second-tier city.
On the night of the first day of the Chinese New Year, a local Didi driver in Yangzhou sighed to Caijing Wuji: "The Spring Festival in Yangzhou this year is still too boring." In the past, she could make a small profit during the Spring Festival, and only received a business order on the night of the first day of the Chinese New Year.
"I'm ready to pack up and go home, and I'll go shopping in the mall tomorrow to buy new clothes."Master Du's home is in the east of the city. After leaving the community gate, you can walk a few steps to Aobang Plaza with RT-Mart as the core. There are many high-quality and low-cost women's clothing brands on the first and second floors.
"Buy cotton, or buy a down jacket?" ”
On this ordinary Spring Festival night, in Master Du’s mouth, the prosperous Yangzhou shopping malls have faded away and returned to the essence of retail industry - No matter how the times change, this is still an art about consumer choice.
(At the request of the interviewee, Wang Yi in the article is a pseudonym)
2 Reference materials:
Li Dou: "Yangzhou Huafanglu"
Liu Siwei, etc.: "On Urban Business District"
Lu Weifang: "Yangzhou Regional Social Development in the World Vision"
