"This is the best of times, this is the worst of times". When I explore the outdoor old shops in several Chinese cities and listen to the shopkeepers tell about the past that is not far away, I think of such a sentence in my heart.
In the hottest years of backpackers, they caught up with the tide and started a livelihood in a shop that was so narrow that the goods were also piled up. Catching up with the prevalence of e-commerce, online shopping is booming, and struggling to survive in this era of change.
The shop is from lively to deserted, they are also insisting on thinking about change, and the old shop also hides the youth of many people.
If you are traveling to Kunming, Yunnan, you must go to an old shop called "Meili Outdoor". It's good to talk to the owner, old Duan, about mountaineering, about paragliding, about equipment, or about food.
No. 198 Renmin East Road, Kunming City, Block A, Workers' Cultural Palace, negative one floor. In 2020, lao Duan moved the store from the commercial center to a slightly more remote place, the location is off, the rent is reduced, but the store is bigger. "In 2020, the impact is a little bit, but it is good for now." Old Duan said.
▲The storefront was relocated in 2020. Photo/Segment Jianxin
From 1996 to 2021, 25 years, in "Merry", my heart is tied to Merry.
Lao Duan had only recently returned from Yubeng Village in Yunnan. Every year, he embarks on this Merry worship tour. At the beginning of January, he went to the base camp of the Sino-Japanese Meili Snow Mountain Joint Mountaineering Team, found the house where he and the mountaineers had lived together for more than a month, tied 17 prayer flags for his former friends, and paid homage to Hada.
▲ In 1991, Duan Jianxin and the Sino-Japanese Meili Snow Mountain Joint Mountaineering Team members.
In the past, occasional travelers would come to the store to talk to the old Duan about the story of that year. In 1990, at the age of 23, Duan Jianxin was still working as a chef at a Kunming hotel. He saw a picture of Kawagbo Peak in a magazine, and because he liked to draw and photograph, he wanted to take one. That year's Spring Festival, because of the closure of the mountain, he was trapped in the Zhongdian Guest House waiting for the traffic. Trapped in the guest house at the same time, there is also the Sino-Japanese mountaineering team preparing for the joint climbing of Kawaborg Peak at the end of the year.
By chance, Duan Jianxin joined the mountaineering activity as a chef. Then, it was the MeiliShan Disaster that shocked the world. On the evening of January 3, 1991, 17 Chinese and Japanese members were all killed in Camp No. 3. At that time, Duan Jianxin survived because he stayed in the base camp.
Seeing the difficulties in the mountains, the old Duan who returned from Meili not only did not stay away from the outdoors, but felt that life was more precious, and seized all the time to do what he wanted to do. After going down the mountain, Lao Duan quit his job as a chef and started an adventure travel agency with friends, when they were short of equipment when they carried out many activities, and he knew the importance of equipment more and had the idea of opening an equipment store in his heart.
▲A corner of the shop. Photo/Segment Jianxin
At that time, the Network was not developed, but in the foreign book shop, he looked through the magazines "Outside" in the United States, "Mountains and Valleys" in Japan, and "Climbing" in France, and knew that outdoor equipment was already an industry abroad. However, when he went to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau to register, there was no industry classification in China, and later through an acquaintance, he wrote in the name of the industry by hand.
"I applied for a license in 1996 and only approved it in 1997, so I should be the first store in China called outdoor products." Old Duan said. The location of the old shop was in the alley opposite the new southwest of Qingnian Road.
▲The door of the 7-square-meter shop in that year. Photo/Segment Jianxin
Old Duan remembers his first order. A domestic company needed to purchase a batch of aerial work rope equipment, and they found out that the old section here might sell climbing ropes, so they found him. But this was not available at home at that time. When he didn't have a cell phone, he sent a telegram to the China Mountaineering Association to buy the first piece of equipment from there. In addition to giving it to customers, Lao Duan also left a copy for himself at that time. "The climbing rope from 30 years ago is so precious." Old Duan said.
From 7 square meters in the past to 100 square meters in the current year, the sales model of the old section has not changed, which he calls "consultative sales". He usually understands the needs of customers first, and then gives them some advice, and all the equipment is personally selected by him. Sometimes he would recommend several products to customers together, let customers pick them, and send the rest back to the store. Lao Duan knows all the products in the store, and the customers have complete trust in him. He said that he had long been accustomed to this traditional way of selling face-to-face and heart-to-heart, which has become an advantage for small shops to survive today.
▲The new location of the Meili outdoor goods store. Photo/Segment Jianxin
At that time, the number of people going to Tibet in Yunnan was also growing, and many old customers introduced them to the Meili outdoor shop, and the old Duan would personally choose a few warm and good quality clothes for them. Yunnan has mountains and water, more and more people play outdoors, and agree with this way of life, the old Duan's store has a complete range of categories, whether it is professional or leisure, the big guys can always buy reliable quality equipment.
With reliable equipment, you can climb higher and go farther. Selling goods is not the only one in the old life, the old part of life is actually a fun-loving person.
▲ In 1999, Lao Duan and his teammates climbed the Haba Snow Mountain. Photo/Segment Jianxin
A friend said that he was selling and sucking.
At that time, the small shop of 7 square meters, the old section could go out at any time to go out and spread wilderness. In addition to mountaineering and hiking, the old Duan was as early as 1997, the second year of the store's opening, he played paragliding, and was also the first batch of domestic civil paragliding pilots. In 2010, he took his diving license and began diving. In 2016, he retook the paragliding certificate and flew everywhere. During this period, I also go skiing.
Now, by his side, old friends who have been playing together for more than twenty years get together every Saturday, and the store has become a base camp for old friends to get together. The old customers of that year, from young men to fathers, sometimes suddenly a child came over and called him "uncle", he would be frightened, it turned out that the children of the year also began to come to the store to buy things.
On the mobile phone navigation, you can't find an outdoor shop called "Xiaote", but if you shout among the old donkey friends in Beijing: "Where is the Xiaote outdoor shop?" They might all be able to give you a rough finger—" in a basement on the northeast corner of the Madian Bridge. ”
Take the elevator to the second basement floor of the commercial building, narrow corridors, deserted environment, quite age-old product advertisements on the small half wall of the door, club flags such as "Green Field" and "Tianya" hanging high, and there is an outdoor donkey of 8264 at the door. Compared with the grand sanfu on the opposite side of the building, this small shop simply lacks a sense of presence.
▲In front of the small outdoor shop. Photo/ Tang Dynasty
The store manager, Tang Chao, sat sideways behind the counter, and occasionally when he entered the store, he would get up and greet him. When the Xiaote outdoor shop first opened, Tang Chao was still in college, and at that time he sold equipment online part-time, which was still making money. After graduation, Tang Dynasty became Xiao Te's partner a few years later.
A tea table was specially arranged in the corner of the small shop, sitting down to make tea, getting up to invite customers, and now the 35-year-old Tang Dynasty, a little lazy and casual. Carefully introduce a shoe to the customer, but do not deliberately sell it. "Her feet are not good in itself, and if she strongly recommends a shoe, even if she can't find out, I don't have to do it." In this ordinary small shop, there is no lack of sincerity.
▲ On the tea table of the small outdoor shop is a copy of the latest issue of "Outdoor Adventure" magazine. Photo/ Tang Dynasty
The online store is not bad, the Tang Dynasty from time to time to get up to deliver goods, but the store is very deserted. That wasn't the case. XiaoTe said: "When the holidays were approaching, I had to queue up to buy bags! "The shop, which was not spacious, was once crowded. In the team that went out to play together, once everyone saw good things, they knew everything and came to the store to buy them.
Many old donkey friends who play outdoors in Beijing know lao te and xiao te. Lao Te used to run an outdoor goods store, and Xiao Te was his clerk. Xiao Te's real name is not called Xiao Te, but because he followed lao Te to work, the customers who came to the store called him "Xiao Te", and in the jianghu, there was Xiao Te.
From 2003 to 2005, after two years with Old Te, Little Te came out and went it alone. In 2005, the North Loop Polar Star Outdoor Goods Store was founded, but it is better known as "Little Special Outdoor Store", which has been around ever since. At that time, both the Madian area and the current underground of the building were once lively. The first IKEA store in Beijing was located on the upper floor of The Madian Xiaote, which ran from the upper floor to the second basement floor, and was once crowded.
The heyday of Beijing's Madian business district was also the peak of the development of outdoor sports in Beijing.
In 2001, Sanfu Madian West Store opened, becoming the first outdoor store in Madian area, by 2004, several small shops began to appear around Sanfu West Store, and then Madian area began to appear in succession a number of large and small outdoor shops, Madian began to become a distribution center for outdoor products in Beijing.
Xiao Te himself does not play outdoors, but he has already understood the knowledge of outdoor equipment. At that time, the Madian outdoor business district not only had many backpackers in Beijing, but also often had foreign outdoor people come to the store to buy. These customers have brought a lot of fresh knowledge to Xiaote, and the small shop seems to be an old friend sharing meeting, which is not busy.
▲Small special outdoor shop. Photo/ Tang Dynasty
"Slowly, I only loved one person in my life." Such romance is not only in love stories, but also among the shopkeepers and customers of that year. In the small special store, it has always been based on the actual needs of customers to buy goods, due to asymmetric supply, usually the equipment that customers want, only to arrive at the store after a few months or even half a year, but customers are often after payment, single-mindedly waiting, people and people so trust, now it seems precious and scarce.
Nowadays, online shopping is prevalent, and shopkeepers interact mechanically with customers across screens. And back then, people and things, people and people are closer together. "Some customers buy and talk and become couples, which seems hard to believe now, but this was common in those days." Little Te said with a smile.
The rise of e-commerce, coupled with the opening of large chain stores, has made the survival and development of small and medium-sized outdoor stores in Madian business district more difficult. The old shop is slowly closing year by year. The new generation of outdoor people, if they are not idle to listen to the old donkey friends talk about the mountains, do not even know the Madian outdoor business circle, and the existence of these old shops.
"In those days, there were often students from the Mountaineering Club of Peking University in the store to buy, and if they couldn't afford to buy expensive ones, they bought cheap ones, and now there are almost none." Little Ted said.
Today, the Tang Dynasty is still sticking under Madian, and at the same time it is also taking care of the online store. Xiao Te is more often in Yanjiao, shipping goods from the warehouse to various places, and the business is not good or bad. Whether it is Xiao Te or the Tang Dynasty, it is said: If it is not forced, I hope that the small shop will always be open.
At 6 Milk Road Johnson Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong, an outdoor goods store called Shamuni has a history of 30 years. Originally located on Shanghai Street in Yau Ma Tei, the old shop was founded in 1990 by Hong Kong mountaineer Chung Kin-man, who was the first to climb the highest peak on the world's seven continents and complete his expedition to the North and South Poles.
▲ Zhong Jianmin in 1987 in the climbing activities. Photo/ Zhong Jianmin
Mr. Zhong, who is now 67 years old, still takes 4 days a week to go to the store, purchase goods, inspect, and hold meetings for employees, although there are employees, he still has to do as much as possible, especially the control of equipment quality. The equipment in the store is basically from Europe, so Mr. Zhong often needs to go to Europe to personally select goods.
Europe is also the place where Zhong Jianmin's climb began. When he was a teenager, he once looked up to the Lion Mountain in Hong Kong, eager to climb to the top, and later saw the scene of climbing the snow mountain in foreign movies, and since then he has buried the feeling of the snow mountain in his heart. In Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s, mountaineering equipment and knowledge were still scarce. And Zhong Jianmin, who is twenty years old, is exactly the age at which he wants to break through the world. So after being introduced by relatives, Zhong Jianmin came to Belgium to learn mountaineering techniques while studying and working.
During his time in Europe, he ascended Mont Blanc in France, and also knew the French town of Chamonix, and liked the name very much. In 1985, Zhong Jianmin decided to return to Hong Kong to work hard, first founding the Hong Kong Mountain Climbing Training Center, teaching rock climbing, and then in 1990, opening the first outdoor goods store, and naming the store "Sha muni" in Hong Kong dialect.
Over the past 30 years, Samooni has expanded to 5 stores and eventually merged into one. In Zhong Jianmin's view, Hong Kong has a small land boundary, convenient subway, and high rental costs, in fact, there is no need to open multiple branches.
▲Hong Kong Shamuni outdoor goods store. Photo/ Zhong Jianmin
The shop is located in the most central and lively area of Hong Kong, and it is also very crowded. But when it first opened, Samooni's business was very bleak, not only because the location was not as good as it is now, but also because it did not understand the shopping habits of Hong Kong customers.
At that time, Hong Kong did not have so many people climbing or climbing mountains today, and Hong Kong itself did not have high mountains to climb, so the shop's extremely professional climbing and climbing supplies were not sold. Later, in line with the sports habits of Hong Kong people, Zhong Jianmin added public leisure products in addition to professional equipment, and the store slowly became popular.
▲A corner of the Hong Kong Shamuni outdoor goods store. Photo/ Zhong Jianmin
When Zhong Jianmin climbed in Japan, he found that Japanese mountaineers always wear professional and beautiful clothes when climbing, while in Hong Kong, people only like to wear comfortable and ordinary clothes to climb the mountain, but they are very concerned about shoes. Therefore, today' hiking shoes have always been the main product of the Shamuni shop.
When he returned to Hong Kong from Europe, Zhong Jianmin's most sincere idea was to complete his climbing career with a shop career. If you work for others and can't often take leave to do what you love, then you can climb when you have money and leisure to start your own business.
After the initial scale of his career, he embarked on a journey again according to the heart of climbing, France, Russia, China, Tibet... Often separated for months, the store's business can only be taken care of by employees and his wife. "Sometimes I go out for two months, and when I come back, I see that the store is still there, and I am very relieved." Zhong said.
▲ Zhong Jianmin rides with his lover. Photo/ Zhong Jianmin
From 1982 to 2003, Zhong Jianmin completed the climb of the highest peak on seven continents in 21 years. In his view, doing business, but the ideal can not be lost. On the side of the lively Mong Kok street, if you walk into this old shop, you may be lucky enough to meet Mr. Chung and talk to him about the stories of those climbs.
But more often than not, he may not be there, perhaps hiking in the countryside with his family, or riding alone in the mountains.
In 2000, a mountaineering-themed film "Vertical Limit" was released, which made many Chinese young people fall in love with climbing and going outdoors that year. Xu Ning, who was just in his 20s at the time, was one of them.
At the beginning of the 21st century, outdoor sports have not yet been popularized in the northeast, and people have no concept of outdoor equipment. Xu Ning recalled that at that time, he met an outdoor brand owner in a store, and the product folding page held by the boss was more than five hundred headlamps, and Xu Ning's salary at that time was only a few hundred yuan a month.
At that time, the information was blocked, and many brands of equipment were only available abroad, so this group of young people could only understand through some movies and websites, and then find a way to buy. Xu Ning himself is a clothing foreign trade background, like the outdoors, play outdoors also has equipment needs, naturally thought of opening an outdoor goods store, he named it "green air." ”
▲Shenyang green air outdoor products store. Photo/ Xu Ning
In 2003, it was the SARS period, and it was necessary to go to Beijing to buy goods, and Xu Ning ran three or four times a month to Beijing. "At that time, the purchase quantity was also very large, the first time I went to Beijing to buy goods, I brought 50,000 yuan, and as a result, the equipment was not covered with half of the wall."
After SARS, outdoor sports broke out across the country, people began to go out to play, and outdoor sports were also thriving in Shenyang. At that time, when I saw people carrying large bags on the road, everyone thought it was cool and handsome, and they all wanted that feeling.
"At that time, there were a lot of backpackers who came to the store, and many people may not be backpackers before entering the store, so they talked a few times when they entered the store, stuffed their backpacks, and then went out of the store to be backpackers." Xu Ning laughed. "Even a lot of people quit because they were playing outdoors."
Xu Ning sighed that at that time, more than 50 liters of hiking bags could sell forty a month, and now it can only sell three or four a year. "Now there are fewer people reloading in the northeast, and there are more self-driving trips."
Slowly, fewer people came to the store, and on a normal day, the store may only be patronized by five or six people a day. Slowly, many old shops also closed. Some friends who also opened stores with good friendships even put goods in their own stores to sell.
"An old friend came to my shop and wore the shoes I bought here many years ago and showed off to me, 'Look, I've been wearing these shoes for years, they're so strong!' Xu Ning smiled and recalled, "I was eager to take a knife and cut it!" Outdoor products can only be worn out outdoors, and the equipment in the store can get a "virtuous circle". The less people go out, the less equipment is naturally sold.
The weather in the northeast is cold, the autumn and winter orders of big brand owners, the main camp will be in the northeast. Xu Ning also goes to see new products every year and orders by the way. "But these two years are less, brand orders will not be very good in the north, and many outdoor stores are shrinking." Xu Ning said.
Nowadays, in Xuning's shop, catering to the outdoor habits of Shenyang people, the products are also seasonal, and in winter, they sell thick clothes, hats, gloves and other accessories, from April to September, basically based on camping light equipment. The northeast is dominated by mass leisure outdoor sports, so the products are also biased towards this. Xu Ning and his friends are also planning to use a compound around Shenyang as an activity base to drive product sales with experiential activities and cater to the local people's casual outdoor model.
For more than a decade, Xu Ning has changed three stores, but still adheres to the "green air". There are always some feelings in it, the old customers who have been precipitated for many years are still in the scene, Xu Ning does not like the sense of restraint, the friends who come to the small shop are usually like-minded, and the old customers eventually become old friends.
The shops are deserted, and the courtyard is bustling. Xu Ning deliberately set up a porch at the entrance of the store and a small courtyard in front of the door. In the evening of summer, old friends, you buy vegetables, I buy wine, eat barbecues at the door of the small shop, chat and idle.
▲Friends meet in the courtyard in front of the door. Photo/ Xu Ning
"All the old customers and friends around you are your best salesmen. Even crowdfunding helps you when you don't have any money. Everyone wants you to survive and live well, and they also hope that there will always be such a 'base camp'. Xu Ning said with a smile.
But sometimes when an old friend who hasn't seen him for many years passes by the store, he doesn't forget to humorously tease when he greets him- "What are you doing?!" ”
"Yes, I'm still doing it!" Xu Ning said.
When I had not yet spoken to Luo Xiping, the co-founder of "Wind and Snow Outdoor", just opened the brand website, a delicate and somewhat era-flavored page, it had already brought me into that period of wind and snow.
In 1999, on the shore of Hangzhou's West Lake, the original wind and snow outdoor was established. At that time, it was a very niche shop, the store was simple and simple, there were few customers, and its original name was "Wind and Snow House".
Why is it called "Wind and Snow House"? Lao Luo (Luo Xi commented), co-founder of Wind and Snow Outdoor, said that in the past, when GORE-TEX and The North Face tested the waterproof performance of products, they would spray products with a shower in a house, and this room was called a wind and snow house. The great care that lies in the name of the little shop.
▲Wind and snow outdoor riverside store. Photo/ Rosie Comment
Originally, Lao Luo opened an outdoor shop to facilitate the collection of outdoor equipment, and old friends, as well as more outdoor enthusiasts to see the most beautiful scenery in the most beautiful places. Also in 1999, in order to relax, Lao Luo went to Songpan County, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province, to participate in an event called HappyTrail. At that time, many places there were not open to traffic, and they could only ride horses together, and Lao Luo sighed on the road, if the body is good enough, then we can see the scenery that many people can't see.
For more than twenty years, exercise has long been a way of life for Lao Luo, just like coffee every morning. In 2002, he began to contact trail running, and has participated in countless cross-country events at home and abroad. In 2001, he founded the Hangzhou West Lake Mountain Running Race, which has continued to this day, and single-handedly promoted the sport of mountain running (cross-country) in Hangzhou. And the beginning of this idea was only lao Luo to promote the off-road shoes in the store.
▲ Lao Luo is participating in a trail running competition. Photo/ Rosie Comment
From Lao Luo's words, you can feel his momentum in life and career. With the development of the times, Lao Luo's ambitions are also growing. In 2003, the "Wild Wind" and "Fast Walking World" branches that were later established merged with the "Wind and Snow House" were merged into one, and the Wind and Snow Outdoor was established, which also achieved many achievements in business.
In fact, in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, there are many large online stores, and it is not necessary to open a physical store to open a store now. Nowadays, in Hangzhou, many new outdoor shops have been converted to urban camping and exquisite camping, and there are more and more experiential stores like ABC camping.
In some emerging outdoor stores, the owner will set up a tent beautifully, put outdoor products like furniture, create many scenes, and encourage everyone to take pictures, so that everyone will be willing to share it with the people around them.
These are the new forms of metabolism of the times. Lao Luo also agrees that outdoor shops are not only emotional, if you want to attract people, you also need to create a visual atmosphere, and things/sports without face value may die.
▲A corner of the outdoor riverside store in the wind and snow. Photo/ Rosie Comment
Many of the old outdoor shops of that year are no longer there, but the wind and snow outdoors are still there, and they still maintain the original intention: to go to the most beautiful place with their best friends.
At The Wuhou Ancestral Hall in Chengdu, Zhang Lei runs an outdoor goods store called "Alpine Outdoors", but in fact, "I have no desire to go to Siguniang Mountain." ”
Drink some tea, drink some wine, watch TV with your family, go out for a stroll, life is still very "Bashi", Zhang Lei said that he is a typical Chengdu person.
In March 2001, by chance and because of the compulsion of life, Zhang Lei panned a friend's outdoor goods store. At that time, the information was still very closed, for outdoor stores, Zhang Lei only looked at the magazine a few times, and did not know anything else.
At that time, the shop had not yet moved to the center of Chengdu, and it was still in a 7-square-meter hut at the gate of the Traffic Hotel at No. 6 Middle Linjiang Road, small but very lively.
▲Takayama outdoor old store site. Photo/ Zhang Lei
Next door to the Traffic Hotel is Chengdu Xinnanmen Bus Station, where long-distance buses flow endlessly, which used to be a transit point for many donkey friends who used to go to western Sichuan or enter Tibet. The Transportation Hotel was also the only hotel with foreign-related qualifications in the surrounding area at that time, with low-cost accommodation specially provided for backpackers, and it was a favorite shop for foreign backpackers.
Even the later Wuhou Ancestral Hall shop was difficult to rival the bustle of that year.
Zhang Lei said that foreign backpackers accounted for about one-third of the store's sales that year. The presence of foreign backpackers also brought Zhang Lei fresh foreign equipment consultation, and they told Zhang Lei, who knew nothing about the outdoors, which country each brand came from. In addition, Zhang Lei, who is not cold to really going outdoors, has to complete the road of outdoor enlightenment by reading the "Mountaineering Bible" by himself.
"Our business model was not as commercial as it is now, and we had very frequent communication with customers, and they would come to my store to chat and drink tea when they were fine." Zhang Lei said. To this day, he still keeps in touch with the first customers of the year, gets together two or three times a year, and has already become an old friend.
▲Wuhouci Avenue No. 244 Alpine Outdoor Shop. Photo/ Zhang Lei
Although Zhang Lei does not play outdoors, he loves outdoor people very much. He recalled that his small shop had also supported many large-scale activities "without self-control", such as the Sichuan expedition to raft the Grand Canyon in the United States, and he had supported it with equipment. "It's also very interesting to look back on now." Zhang Lei said with a smile.
Urban transformation, Zhang Lei in 2007 moved the "Alpine Outdoor" to No. 244 WuhouCi Avenue. Zhang Lei drew such a time boundary in his heart for the outdoors in Chengdu, Chengdu people began to be willing to go outdoors after SARS in 2003, but after the 2008 earthquake, they changed their consumption habits, and self-driving tours increased significantly.
At that time, most of the customers who came to the store were under the age of 30, but now according to Zhang Lei's observation, there are really not many young people in the store, or almost none. Nowadays, many customers are not mainly based on outdoor needs, but only on life needs.
There is a Tibetan gathering area around Wuhou Ci Heng Street, and now a lot of business in Zhang Lei's shop depends on these consumer groups. These Tibetans are more aware of the function of outdoor clothing than inlanders, and they have a need for such clothing even if they do not go hiking. Zhang Lei smiled bitterly and said, "If my shop wasn't in Wuhou Temple, it might have to close." Without these main Tibetan customers, my store would have closed down long ago. ”
The old shops around him have disappeared, and today, although Zhang Lei is not the first outdoor shop in the history of Chengdu, he may be the oldest few that remain.
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