Reporter | Chen Qirui
Edit | Lou Shuqin
After several postponements, the reloaded Wangfujing Dong'an Market officially opened its doors on January 19. This department store, which has a history of more than 100 years, has been given a new name, called East Evershed.
According to the announcement of Wangfujing Group, Dongan Ruijin is operated by Ruijin Shangpin International Trade Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Group. The company was founded in 2014 and acquired by Wangfujing Group in 2018. Like Rui Gaoyi and Ruiyi International, two companies belonging to the Wangfujing Group, Ruijin Shangpin is engaged in international trade and international agency business, and holds a large number of high-end brand agency rights.
In addition, Ruijin Shangpin has also ventured into the offline market, opening department store stores called "Luxemporium Ruijin Shangpin" in cities such as Chengdu and Zhengzhou. In September 2021, Shang Xiping, managing director of Wangfujing Group, said at a forum at the China International Fair for Trade in Services that the reloaded Dongan market will introduce more than 600 international brands, of which nearly 300 are entering the Chinese market for the first time.
Interface Fashion visited East Evershed on the first day of opening. The overall interior decoration of the mall is responsible for the design studio ALL Design Studio, and the circulation layout of Dong'an Ruijin is more concise than that of Dong'an Market. Like Internet celebrity shops such as Yumei, DongAnRuijin adopts the popular industrial style, using a large number of reflective metal materials and multi-color transparent plastic walls to separate different areas.
The three-storey retail space covers an area of 11,000 square meters, selling a variety of goods such as ready-to-wear, shoes, fragrance and tide play, and the layout can see the shadow of Galeries Lafayette department store and SKP SELECT. The ground floor atrium is divided into incense and accessories counters, and is surrounded by separate shops of brands such as Ami and Balmain.
The second and third floors are the branded sales areas divided into semi-open spaces. East Eversheds has introduced a number of brands that have established a reputation in both international and domestic fashion circles in recent years, including brands such as Jil Sander and Marni, which are operated by fashion groups, as well as We11done, a Korean fashion brand that was recently acquired by Sequoia China, and has also set up a special block to sell Chinese designer brands such as Staffonly and XU ZHI.
From the perspective of the overall transformation effect and brand portfolio, DongAnRui Jin handed over an answer sheet that was much higher than the passing level. Although Wangfujing Pedestrian Street has long been criticized for its strong tourist attributes, the high-end consumption format has not been far away, and many overseas brands hope to open stores in this nationally renowned commercial street area as a symbol of their foothold and expansion in the Chinese market.
Even the earliest arrival was the first batch of luxury brands. Louis Vuitton and Chanel opened their first store on the mainland in the 1990s at the Peninsula Hotel near Wangfujing, and today Prada's Flagship Store in Beijing is on the north side of Wangfujing Avenue. Even the Palace Central Shopping Centre, which has only opened in recent years, has introduced a number of luxury brands such as Dior and Fendi.
The development towards high-end is also the direction of the transformation of Wangfujing Pedestrian Street in recent years. In September 2020, the State Council approved a new round of comprehensive pilot programs for the service industry in Beijing, proposing to build an international business environment in Wangfujing Neighborhood. Prior to this, a number of shopping malls on Wangfujing Street had been adjusted in terms of investment positioning.
As a Wangfujing Group that holds multiple property projects on Wangfujing Street, it is naturally actively involved in the upgrading of the block. Affected by the epidemic and the pressure on the department store format in recent years, the overall revenue growth rate of Wangfujing Group has slowed down. The duty-free business in Beijing and the outlying islands of Hainan, which was originally highly anticipated, has not yet been fully launched.
Therefore, the transformation of the Dong'an market into Dong'an Ruijin can be seen as an attempt by Wangfujing Group to find new growth points. On the one hand, the current domestic high-end consumption has shown an explosive posture due to the return of overseas consumption, which is a very tempting market for any developer. On the other hand, if Dong Anrui Jin can be successful after opening, Wangfujing Group can also win more advantages in brand negotiations when operating high-end business in the future, and further increase the tax-free business.
At present, the advantage of DongAnruijin is that it is the only high-end buyer's handmade department store on Wangfujing Street. But as I wrote earlier, Wangfujing Street is still attractive to high-end brands, but they open mostly well-known brands, and they often open flagship stores, and even tourists will recognize these brands.
In such a street of competing for popularity, DongAn Rui Jin relies on a large number of designer brands and niche brands, and it will take time to verify how the future performance will be. After all, buying handmade department stores usually requires operators to have a high reputation and operational capabilities in the industry in order to achieve sustainable development in brand investment.