Grain and oil stores are the memories of many Shanghainese.
In the 1980s, it was the heyday of the development of Shanghai grain and oil stores. In Shanghai, more than 100 grain stores, oil sauce shops, grain and oil comprehensive stores were opened in Jing'an District at that time, and they were named after numbers, "the first grain and oil" and "the second grain and oil"... Although the recognition is not high, people who often come to buy it will never be mistaken, and the digital grain and oil store has become an exclusive memory of Shanghainese.
After experiencing changes such as marketization impact and restructuring, the vast majority of grain and oil stores no longer exist, and the grain and oil stores named after numbers have almost disappeared. However, the reporter recently found that in Jing'an District, the brand of "Sixth Grain and Oil" has been retained, and the five stores still hang this signboard that has experienced more than 60 years of wind and rain.
Nostalgic products can be found on the shelves
In the Jing'an District Nanjing West Road business circle, Weihai Road and North Shaanxi Road intersection, there is a "sixth grain and oil" store. North Shaanxi Road is a "time-honored street" built by Jing'an District, and under the "clustering" of long-established old brands, the sign of "Sixth Grain and Oil" is not conspicuous.
However, when you walk into the store, you will feel that it is different from a normal convenience store. The four most conspicuous shelves are filled with a variety of soy sauces, and further inside, there are shelves full of spicy sauces, pickles, and tofu milk, where you can also buy small bags of cinnamon, star anise, peppercorns, large ingredients, salt, monosodium glutamate, sugar and other condiments.
The reporter also found some nostalgic products on the shelves: many old Shanghainese are familiar with the "Fu brand" Lekoufu and malt milk, or aluminum alloy barrels, or red with yellow, red with white packaging colors, it is said that the sales are very good.
The "fist products" here, of course, are all kinds of rice and flour grains and oils. On the shelves on the side of the cash register are rows of various flours, which are used to make various pasta dishes. For example, a "gusi" brand of "Shanghai water mill glutinous rice noodles", store manager Cheng Dongling told reporters that this glutinous rice flour is used for handmade tangyuan, using Jiangsu round grain special grade glutinous rice after soaking processing.
Cheng Dongling took out a bowl of "glutinous rice sweet wine brewing" from the freezer. "The wine sold outside carries a lot of water, but our product is relatively dry, there is very little water, the amount of wine is very large, and the taste is particularly fragrant." This kind of sake brewing, using the traditional hand-brewing method, has relatively high requirements on production technology, and is produced by the 'Sixth Grain Oil'. Cheng Dongling said. The reporter looked at the price, 250 grams of packaging is only 4.5 yuan, almost a discount of other old brands.
The area around the Nanjing West Road business circle is scarce, and with the renewal of the city in the past few years, some private people's livelihood shops have been adjusted. Three years ago, in response to the voices of residents in the area around North Shaanxi Road, the district government assigned the sixth grain and oil food store co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the district state-owned enterprise Kaikai Group, to open this grain and oil store.
There are many "treasures" in food turnover boxes
At this time, a Shanghai uncle walked into the store, went straight to the cashier, and asked the salesman to help him "weigh three pounds of wonton skin and pack it in three parts."
The reporter noticed that there was a "food turnover box" next to the cash register, covered with plexiglass, and under the cover were four kinds of noodles of different widths and widths, as well as large wonton skins, small wonton skins, dumpling skins, and roasted skins, all "naked" and looked very fresh. I saw the salesman put on disposable gloves, grab some leather, and weigh it. Noodles are weighed and sold with leather for 3.5 yuan a pound. "The price is almost 20% cheaper than a small vegetable farm." The old man carried the weighed wonton skin and walked happily.
These lye water cut dough skins, can be called the "sixth grain oil" of the "treasure product". "Our lye water cut dough skin is made of Shanghai flour, processed by 'Sixth Grain oil' own factory, no additives, processed on the same day, sold on the same day, and does not sell overnight goods." Zhou Rong, general manager of Jing'an District Sixth Grain, Oil and Food Store Co., Ltd., said.
Every day at 4:00 a.m., the processing plant on Haiphong Road begins processing, and the freshly baked lye water cut dough skin is delivered to the North Shaanxi Road store before 6:30 a.m., and it opens for sale at 7 o'clock.
"Basically all regular customers. Before the New Year, the lye water cut dough skin was still bought by everyone. Cheng Dongling remembered that one year when xiao Chinese New Year's Eve, someone ran from Qingpu to buy lye water cut dough skin. Upon inquiry, I learned that the other party was an old resident who used to live nearby.
Selling these lye water cut dough skins, the "sixth grain and oil" actually can't make any money. Taking the North Shaanxi Road store as an example, the average daily sales volume of lye water cut dough skin is about 100 catties. Sales are only about 350 yuan, removing the cost of raw materials and labor, which is really a small profit. "But we have always insisted on doing a good job in this business, selling lye water cut noodles as a sign business of the shop." Zhou Rong said that the "sixth grain and oil" is to rely on selling grain and oil to start, from the beginning of the establishment of the store, to do a few cents of business. Lye water cut skin has been sold since the 1960s and 1970s, almost without interruption for a day.
Constantly adjust market positioning and strategies
"The Sixth Grain and Oil" was born in 1958, the earliest store is located at No. 1009 Nanjing West Road, super good market entrance. At that time in Shanghai, almost every district had district grain and oil stores, most of which were sorted by numbers, and basically there were grain and oil stores near every community.
Lu Guanghua, director of operations of "Sixth Grain and Oil", entered the grain and oil system in the 1970s. In his memory, the business of the "Sixth Grain and Oil" store had been very good at that time.
Working as a salesman in a grain and oil store at that time was a very "challenging" job. From the mid-1950s to the early 1990s, many goods in Shanghai needed to be purchased with a ticket. At the counter, the salesman collects tickets, collects money, and weighs rice: use large and small wooden buckets, scoop out the rice noodles that customers want to buy from different square wooden barrels where the rice is stored, and then weigh it. Lu Guanghua said that when there were many people, our salesman worked all day, and his hands and feet were too tired to lift.
Later, due to the reconstruction of Nanjing West Road and the construction of the subway, the "Sixth Grain and Oil" moved away from Nanjing West Road, and after several turns, it was relocated to No. 629 Wanhangdu Road in 1998; later, it was used as the main store and opened four branches.
What did the "sixth grain and oil" survive on? This is inseparable from a series of innovations.
In the late 1980s, the atmosphere of the market economy became increasingly strong. Lu Guanghua said that at that time, the "Sixth Grain and Oil" carried out innovation in business formats. After 1986, more categories of goods were introduced, including food, pastries, north and south goods, etc., and also sold soft drinks, long bread, and the most "sensational" was the opening of cafes and the sale of pastries. In terms of selling rice noodles, a bold attempt was also made at that time: a 20-kilogram family package was launched, and it was packaged, and consumers no longer had to carry rice bags to buy.
In the 1990s, the rise of supermarkets and stores was a huge impact on grain and oil stores. At that time, many grain and oil stores were converted to other or gradually disappeared. At this time, the "Sixth Grain and Oil" had been moved from Nanjing West Road to Wanhangdu Road. In order to get out of the trough, they quickly adjusted their strategy. "On the one hand, we take the mode of chain store development and open new branches; on the other hand, in terms of business formats, we retain the old formats and introduce a large number of categories that are needed daily by surrounding residents, such as the introduction of Sanlin cooked food, the introduction of mooncakes, rice dumplings, steamed buns and other breakfasts, which has become the most profitable category in the store."
The market is always changing, 24-hour convenience stores are blooming everywhere, and "Sixth Grain and Oil" is constantly adjusting its market positioning and business strategy. Nowadays, the five stores of "Sixth Grain and Oil" are positioned in community convenience service stores, and "one store, one policy, one store and one scene". Some stores have introduced treasure tea because of the surrounding business buildings and communities; some stores are surrounded by commercial housing communities and introduce Internet red coffee; some shops are located in old-fashioned residential areas, introducing Internet red snacks such as golden vegetable steamed buns. The store also has close contact with various communities, sending special products such as grain, oil, rice and noodles directly into the community, opening up the "last kilometer" of community services.