Reporter | Wei Xianghui
Edit | Ya Han Xiang
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Bailian TX Huaihai | Youth Force Center (hereinafter referred to as "TX Huaihai") has now become a young force destination for young people in Shanghai.
This commercial destination set sail in 2018. At that time, the developers had considered positioning the location of TX Huaihai as a full-family shopping mall for middle and high-rise consumers, but after careful research, the positioning was similar to that of the nearby EIAPM, the lack of subway stations, and the lack of parking lots. Insufficient hardware conditions have become an objective restriction on the possibility of its growth into another landmark in the Huaihai Road business circle through traditional means.
Under the environment of new consumption and national tide at that time, the young people became the focus of the TX Huaihai project team, "We want to provide young people with a real sense of 'cultural occurrence', which not only has a distinct personality, but also meets their needs for entertainment life, whether it is bungee jumping, party or exhibition, it can be achieved here." Xu Wenjun, assistant general manager of Bailian TX Huaihai | Young Force Center and director of TX, explained. While clarifying the target audience, the TX Huaihai team also proposed a new business concept, "Curated Retail", which is also a business concept that breaks through the tradition and promotes the continuous development of TX Huaihai in the next few years and becomes a trend landmark in Shanghai.
TX Huai overseas scenery (Image: CFP)
THE TREND SHOW ENTER HELD IN TX HUAIHAI, PICTURED IS THE NOWRE HOTEL IN ONE OF THE EXHIBITION AREAS.
The key to curatorial retail lies in the word "policy". This means that each exhibition held in this type is not simply to move the artwork or activity into a project, but to carry out targeted exhibition planning according to different themes, and the dynamic operation runs through the daily work. "For TX Huaihai, it is our daily routine to be deeply involved in every project held here. From the beginning of project co-creation, we will go deep into every link, from the media publicity, KOL invitation, pre-warm-up, site design, material construction, visual design and other aspects of implanted TX Huaihai DNA, so that it is not just a site provider, but a new vitality with a variety of linkage possibilities. Xu Wenjun said. Just recently, INNERSECT, a trend exhibition that has attracted the attention of young people, also chose to cooperate with TX Huaihai and unveiled it with a new project INNER X, which for the first time moved the trend exhibition that has been in the traditional convention and exhibition center for 5 years to the commercial space.
This distinctive commercial project is unfolding in an unprecedented way, and the industry has been amazed by its achievements in just over a year since its opening. At present, the TX Huaihai project as a whole has been profitable, and the average monthly sales of this project covering an area of more than 20,000 square meters can reach tens of millions of yuan. Not only that, the brand that entered the TX Huaihai project also came up with a good report card, and the interactive effect brought by curatorial retail made the "win-win" a reality, such as Vans Huai-Hi on the first floor is currently the brand's most effective store in the Chinese mainland market, while SoloX by SNOW 51, which has two major businesses of trend retail and ski experience, has a monthly sales of nearly 10 million yuan.
Nautica White Sail is the country's first white sail concept store in TX Huaihai
TX Huaihai curated retail concept has also attracted many brands to come here to hold events, new product launches, joint pop-up stores and so on appear here in turn. In 2021, TX Huaihai held nearly 300 events, an average of 25 per month.
However, this innovative concept with a pioneering temperament is accompanied by a series of challenges while achieving results.
The first is the collision of full occupancy rate, opening rate and content presentation. Compared with traditional commercial bodies, TX Huaihai, which takes curatorial retail as the concept, pursues 100% content presentation, actively controls the occupancy rate between 70%-80%, and fills the remaining space with exhibitions, artworks, brand sales and other content, which means that TX Huaihai, which is based on this business concept, is likely not to reach the traditional sense of 100% full rent rate, but it can provide more than 100% satisfaction for target consumers, how to balance between the two, It is the question that Xu Wenjun is thinking about.
Secondly, high-frequency curatorial activities are a big test for the fit between teams, work efficiency and turnover of internal projects. How to maintain the efficient operation of the team under high frequency and high intensity is also a challenge that she and her team must face in the future.
The appearance of TX Huaihai not only gives this commercial body new vitality, but also enlivens the surrounding commercial atmosphere. According to data, in 2021, the average daily passenger flow of TX Huaihai will reach 20,000-25,000 people/time, directly driving the passenger flow in the middle of Huaihai Road to exceed 100,000 people/day.
In 2017, TX had at least a 15%-20% vacancy rate within a kilometer around Huaihai, and even full-rent shops relied on formats such as banks, souvenir shops, and cottage milk tea shops to fill them. Through a year and a half of revitalization, these places have basically achieved a 100% full occupancy rate. 99% of the original backward formats have been iterated into trendy boutiques, new consumer retail stores, experience stores, net red milk tea or restaurants and other stores loved by young people. In addition, the rent of surrounding shops except TX Huaihai has a floating rate of at least 30%.
"The movement and life trajectory of young people determines that they are more inclined to socialize and some social activities in convenient places in the city center," Xu Wenjun told Interface News, "The property in the city center can detonate and affect the entire precinct through one point, and then slowly drive the formation of a sense of youthful atmosphere in the entire neighborhood."
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Another obvious change is reflected in the night economy activity of the entire precinct. The middle section of Huaihai Road on weekend nights must be a dark red color on navigation software. Xu Wenjun recalled that when she first entered the office on Yandang Road 5 years ago, as soon as it was seven o'clock in the evening, the lights had begun to turn off one after another around the middle section of Huaihai Road, which was far from being brightly lit now, "Many long-established shops have closed at 8 p.m., and now, the shops near here are basically open until about 12 o'clock in the evening, and some even stretch longer." ”
In Xu Wenjun's view, the mode of revitalization of Huaihai Road blocks can be borrowed in many cities, but some changes should be made according to local conditions in the presentation of specific scenes. For example, young people in Chengdu and Changsha are more inclined to lie down at night, staying at night for a long time, and the daytime time will be shorter, and the scene settings in these places may need to increase the content of night life, while Beijing is affected by the traffic climate, and young people may be willing to complete as many consumption activities as possible in a single space.
"Young people today need a place where they can give birth to their own culture, where communities can grow." Xu Wenjun said, "As a commercial project, TX Huaihai is a good start, which provides some references for the commercial vitality of other cities. ”