Domestic Products In Department Stores In West Lake, Fuzhou

Fuzhou West Lake department store, the survival of a traditional old shop, regain business opportunities in retreat

Everywhere, old domestic products, cheap little objects...

Buttons, sewing thread, thermos bottle stopper, friendship brand skin cream...

Under the closed wooden frame counter with glass, there are many dazzling household goods, which seem fragmented and scattered.

There are no air-conditioned air-conditioners, and there are several revolving ceiling fans on the ceiling trying to blow away the hot summer heat everywhere this summer.

Walking into the West Lake department store in Fuzhou, as if the time is stagnant, the most common department store scene of 80s and 90s of last century is in memory.

After fading the splendor of the old state department stores, the insistence on the impact of the successive supermarkets and shopping malls seems to be more than just sticking to traditional formats.

Cheap and good old goods that are good for good use, no matter what they call "nostalgic consumption" or "complementary demand", have been searched by the operators over the past years in the cracks of the market, and their "conservatism" has evolved into a feature in the passage of time.

Helpless "conservative"

For the first time, people visiting the department stores in West Lake can feel the sense of "crossing" in a flash, as if they were in the scene of the movie and TV play twenty or thirty years ago.

The glass frame counters were enclosed by a number of boxes, and the tall display containers formed separate sales units; the salesmen at the counter or the station or sitting waiting for customers to come; the salesperson and the customers were talking across the counter, and they met one or two acquainted guests in neighbourhood style.

When the "old" mode of traditional daily merchandise sales is almost covered by the open shelf and experiential super business format, it is amazing how can the department store in West Lake be "left alone"?

Standing in front of the shop in the North back street of West Lake department store, the reporter noticed that the "West Lake department store" with big red letters on the door of the rolling door door looked very inconspicuous, but there was a "West Lake supermarket chain" sign on the bottom of the wall.

This seems to be a silent proof of the entanglement of the old department store in the difficult retreat.

West Lake department store was built in 1969. It was originally called Laguna Colorada department store. It was one of the earliest state department stores in Fuzhou city.

Because it is located near the North Road, many old Fuzhou people used to call it "Peking University shopping center".

In the early days, it used to be a comprehensive shopping mall, including photography, hairdressing and other service industries, with a business area of at least 4 times that of today.

"At that time, our state-operated shopping arcade was very popular, and there were many goods on the market.

The residents of the copper plate, the new store, and the army officers and men near that are here to buy things. "

Mr. Chen, an old employee who had once stood in a shoe cabinet, said that every day when he was busy, he could not finish his work on time.

The wheel of history goes first in the 90s, West Lake.

"When I can't support it, I also want to change my business mode and try to turn it into a supermarket or turn it into a home appliance store, but it has not been successful."

Lin Jie, the head of the original shopping mall who retired two years ago, said that some large department stores that had worked together or took over the intention were retracted because of the fact that the location of the department store was not easy to expand along the street, the passenger flow was not easy to expand, and the original hardware facilities were inadequate.

{page_break}

Obviously, no matter whether we rely on ourselves or by external force, we can not change the "old" business form.

West Lake department store, which is under the pressure of survival, starts with the choice of sales category.

"Emerging businesses are large and full, but they will cater for the fashionable and fashionable consumption. There are always some aspects of the daily needs of the people."

Zhuo Xinfeng, head of West Lake department store, said, for example, some seemingly obsolete old objects and daily necessities, because of durability and substantial benefits, still have many market demands.

Moreover, counter sale has a face-to-face advantage, which can directly understand the needs of customers and replenish the supply of targeted products.

It's not just "nostalgia" consumer advocates.

It is understood that in addition to the occasional Street visitors, West Lake

"Can you help me get some mosquito repellent incense plates?" in front of the daily necessities counter, Mrs. Zhang picked two from the mosquito coils folded in the salesmen's hands and paid two yuan coins.

She told reporters that the most troublesome thing about mosquito repellent incense is falling ashes at any time, hoping to find a safer and hygienic special dish.

She can buy it here. She lives near the left sea park and finds it by riding an electric car.

Here, there are quite a few "rare" objects, melon seed tongs, walnut clips, old-fashioned folding scissors, mosquito net hooks, thimble for sewing, patch cloth for repairing children's wear, and convenient canvas buckle belt.

The salesperson, who is guarding the counter for more than 20 years, said that such a small item may not be the most popular demand now, but because it can solve some special problems in life, it is not easy to buy in the big shopping malls. Quite a few people will come to the door deliberately.

Many inexpensive items here can also be sold without sales.

Ms. Chen, who came to buy sewing needles, could not match the size of a whole box of needles. She only bought two needles with thickness and size suitable for sewing cotton underwear.

Ms. Chen said that some supermarkets also sell pins and needles, but they are all packaged and tied up, with little room to choose.

Reporters saw at the counter that clothes, such as small clothes clips, all kinds of color sewing thread, size buttons, commonly used in the old children's clothing buttons, on the size of the cut elastic belt and lace, and so on, the sale of only 35 cents.

There is a simple curtain ring, which can be as low as 5 cents per piece.

Li Jie frankly, these humble objects can only be small profits but quick turnover.

It is the main direction of shopping malls to "make up for the deficiency and to manage the most commonly used and used consumer goods."

Zhuo Xinfeng said that the existing clothing, shoes and hats, knitted underwear, cotton spinning and chemical fiber, hardware and electrical counters and other counters all displayed their skills, turning the "conservative" into the advantages and making the characteristics.

On the counter of the pots and pans, Wang Jiezheng, a salesperson, helped a gentleman to replace the fittings on the top of the pressure cooker.

Ms. Lin, another customer waiting, said that it would be very convenient to buy accessories on the spot.

In the past few years, ten to nine percent of the shopping malls were middle-aged and old people.

In recent years, with the concern of the old Chinese products, the reputation of West Lake department store has been expanded through the Internet in the younger generation of consumer groups in Fuzhou.

Clams oil, friendship brand skin care grease, hundred antelope cream, horse brand face oil, bee flower sandalwood soap, Apricot Flower brand mosquito net, back brand shoes and so on, walk around in West Lake department store.

"It's not just a sense of nostalgia."

A young lady who bought a hundred antelope's hand cream suit spent 8 yuan to say that there were many old brands on the Internet, and there were a lot of products coming along.

She said that such old department stores, like the old ones, did not have too many grooming and ornate packaging, but they were real.

What kind of daily necessities will be found in the family?