June 30th
Isetan Department Store in West, West, Nanjing, Shanghai
The curtain will be officially closed
A "Thanksgiving Poster" has been hung at the door
The farewell ceremony was full of feelings
There are also countdown signs and signs for thanksgiving encounters in the store
Image source: Shangguan News
Quite a few Shanghainese
have been open to this for more than 20 years
Department stores have a lot of feelings.
It has spread all over the country in many cities
Today, there is only one store left in the mainland
According to public information, in 1997, as soon as Westgate Plaza appeared on Nanjing West Road, it amazed the whole city, and the architectural appearance of the mall integrated European design characteristics, elegant and magnificent. The interior extends from the ground floor to the seventh-floor atrium, which was brilliant and bright to the people of Shanghai at that time, like a charming "shopping paradise".
Image source: Shangguan News
For a long time, Westgate Plaza, together with CITIC Pacific, Hang Lung Plaza, Shanghai Centre, etc., formed the "strongest skyline" in Jing'an, especially the "Meiteheng Golden Triangle", which is rarely matched by the prosperity of commerce and the superior geographical location in Shanghai.
Isetan is one of the main merchants of Westgate Plaza, and can be called one of the founders of the status of "the most high-end business district" on Nanjing West Road, accompanying Shanghainese for more than 20 years. As one of the first Japanese department stores to enter the Shanghai market, Isetan used to be a symbol of Shanghai's trendy fashion, and the shopping paper bags printed with the word "Isetan" were carried by Shanghainese people and were used by many people repeatedly.
Time flies, coupled with the continuous opening of new high-end department stores and shopping malls in recent years, the old department stores have gradually lost their competitiveness. "The memories of the Shanghai generation have gradually become the tears of the times." Many netizens lamented that they bought a lot of "firsts" in their lives here, which can be called memories of youth.
As early as 2008, the first store in the mainland, Shanghai Huating Isetan Department Store, closed its doors; In 2013, Isetan Department Store in Shenyang also ceased operations. And in 2022, Isetan also closed down all two stores in Chengdu. At the end of last year, Tianjin Isetan announced that the Isetan Nanjing Road store would be closed on April 14, 2024, and the Binhai Isetan store would be closed on March 11. Coupled with the closure of Isetan in Shanghai Meilong Town, Isetan is the only Isetan left in China as Tianjin Yanlord Isetan.
Image source: Isetan official website
Previously, a number of well-known department stores have closed stores
According to incomplete statistics from One View Commerce, at least 35 department stores will close in 2022. According to the statistics of the Retail Research Center of Lianshang.com, 21 department stores will be closed nationwide in 2023, including Pacific Department Store, Aeon, Parkson, Jiebai, Ocean Department Store, New World Department Store and other well-known department stores that were once popular.
Ito-Yokado, which had been in the Chinese market since 1997, is also closing. It has been closed from more than 10 stores in the Beijing market to its last. Even in Chengdu, Ito-Yokado is shrinking its business network, and the Chunxi Road store, which has been in operation for 25 years, officially ceased operations in 2022.
Shanghai Takashimaya Department Store announced in June 2019 that it was exiting China, but said it would continue to operate after receiving assistance from the owner's company and relevant departments. On Dianping and social media, desertion is still the most common adjective. Perhaps the best performer was Ningbo Hankyu Department Store, which opened in 2021, but this is more of a luxury shopping mall than a traditional Japanese department store, and its success can only be seen as an isolated example.
According to the first financial news, the reporter learned from the interview that department stores were once very popular retail formats, but with the rise of shopping malls and the increase of goods, a large wave of department stores have been impacted, because shopping malls adopt separate stores for each brand, commodity segmentation and brand nature are stronger, and the investment of shopping centers is more diversified and flexible, and the goods are richer. In recent years, with the rise of experiential formats and the Internet, it has impacted aging department stores.
The superposition of various reasons eventually led to the loneliness of the department store. Westgate Isetan Department Store is not the first, nor will it be the last, to close.
Sources: National Business Daily, Shangguan News, Nonghao Shanghai, Newsroom, Xinmin Evening News, Yicai, Jiemian News, Oriental Net, The Paper, Morning News