Zhongshan Road in Xiamen City, one of the "Top Ten Famous Streets in China", is crowded with people and bustling with business, but it is hard to see it now. According to Xiamen City Siming Industrial and Commercial Bureau's survey and statistics, most of the 282 enterprises and self-employed businesses registered on Zhongshan Road are losing money, struggling to survive, and waiting for business opportunities.
The reporter visited Zhongshan Road and found that Zhongshan Road, which has always been known as gold shops, even has vacant stores. Some store doors are locked and waiting for rent, and the flow of people has also been significantly reduced. Except for holidays, the number of stores here The business atmosphere has been very light. Xue Shengchao, the owner of Xian Ya Zhai, said that after working on Zhongshan Road for more than ten years, he has a clear feeling about the decline of Zhongshan Road. The current flow of people is less than half of the previous one, and the transaction rate is low.
Why did Xiamen Zhongshan Road fall into an unprecedented crisis?
The Xiamen Municipal Government has been paying attention to the increasingly neglected phenomenon of Zhongshan Road since the beginning of the year. Many functional departments have conducted investigations and discussions on this issue. The more consistent conclusion is that the development of the regional economy has led to the decline of Zhongshan Road’s status.
After more than 20 years of reform and opening up, Xiamen’s economy has developed rapidly, especially the acceleration of Xiamen’s urbanization process in recent years. The railway station, Fushan Commercial District, SM Commercial City, Lianhua Community, Qianpu New District, etc. The rise of local commercial centers, the increasing scale of supermarkets, and the emergence of large-scale shopping plazas that integrate leisure and shopping have led to the decline in the status of the commercial district with the old city of Zhongshan Road as its core in Xiamen year by year; at the same time, with the expansion of the urban area, a large number of people in the old areas have moved into As the new eastern district moved, the hotspot areas gradually dispersed to the eastern region.
In a research report submitted to relevant departments, the Xiamen Siming Industrial and Commercial Bureau also analyzed some other reasons that led to the crisis on Zhongshan Road:
1. Incomplete functions. Adapt to the needs of new business development models. Among the 282 enterprises on Zhongshan Road, there is not a place where people can relax and entertain. In addition to shopping or visiting stores, people's concept of tourism has changed from sightseeing and shopping in the past to leisure, culture and spiritual enjoyment. As a result, Zhongshan Road lacks Xiamen's characteristics and corporate cultural taste.
2. Shop rents remain high and operating costs rise. At present, the rent of shops in the most prosperous area of ??Zhongshan Road reaches 2,000-5,000 yuan per square meter. The cost of shop rental accounts for 60%-70% of all operating expenses. Operators generally feel a heavy burden.
3. There are obstacles in transportation. Zhongshan Road is an old city with narrow ground and heavy traffic. Vehicles and bicycles have nowhere to park and are easily lost.
How to revitalize Zhongshan Road, the Xiamen Municipal Government and Siming District Government and functional departments have actively planned and introduced a series of measures:
First, it is planned to build a The large-scale commercial plaza is planned to cover an area of ??more than 40,000 square meters, with a total construction area of ??83,500 square meters and a total investment of 850 million yuan to enhance the atmosphere of the business district, gather popularity and increase regional attractiveness.
The second is to plan to build Zhongshan Road into an all-weather pedestrian street.
The third is to provide policy support. For example, 60% of the shops on Zhongshan Road are managed and rented by the Siming District Housing Management Office, which has certain control over rents. The Siming Industrial and Commercial Bureau also put forward suggestions to combine the actual and reasonable planning of Zhongshan Road, that is, to coordinate supporting facilities accordingly in the rules and layout, such as building small squares, small courtyards, small green spaces, night view projects, etc., to provide people with leisure and entertainment , Sightseeing provides the characteristics of Ludao, attracting more tourists and consumers to visit Zhongshan Road.
Future Development Trends
Not long ago, the Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street Chamber of Commerce and the Xiamen Evening News jointly hosted the Zhongshan Business District Development Summit Forum. Government leaders, experts, scholars, and industry insiders all put forward their own opinions. Opinion:
Huang Jiabin, deputy mayor of Siming District: Zhongshan Road aims to build a famous commercial street in China
After Zhongshan Road was converted into a pedestrian street last year, its overall popularity increased. But the current positioning of Zhongshan Road is different from before. In the past, it was just for pure shopping, that is, a commercial street in its primary stage. Now, it is a commercial street integrating tourism, shopping and leisure. Our goal is to build it into a famous commercial street in China. Before achieving this goal, we have also made extensive efforts, such as the construction of hardware night view projects and the adjustment of the entire business format. In addition, taking into account professional construction and combined with the delisting of the first market, various professional streets will be launched on Zhongshan Road. For example, Xiaxi Road may be changed into a Fujian-Taiwan characteristic street, Dazhong Road may be changed into a women's and children's street, etc.
Chen Peiai, Vice Dean of the School of Humanities of Xiamen University: Do a good job in extending time and geography
Although Zhongshan Road is positioned as an entertainment, leisure, and food street, there are still relatively few snacks. Zhongshan Road now has its own sign, which will help with external publicity. But why do people feel regretful if they don’t go to Gulangyu Island or Zhongshan Road when they come to Xiamen? There are two extensions involved - time extension and geographical extension. We can hold various activities here, not necessarily large ones, some small humanized activities are also okay. In addition, many people start nightlife after 10pm. Government departments should mobilize some businesses to stay open until 12pm. In order to retain people, Zhongshan Road should also be extended geographically. Turn some crossroads on Zhongshan Road into specialty snack streets so that people who are tired of shopping can have a place to stay. All the government needs to do is create a shopping atmosphere.
Guo Xiaohua, Director of the Department of Cultural Communication of Xiamen University of Technology: Passing "Slow Life" in Zhongshan
In the eyes of many people in China, Xiamen is a very traditional city that enjoys slow life. Zhongshan Road should be a speed reducer. Therefore, Zhongshan Road should be a place where everyone can go shopping even if they don’t come to buy things. Therefore, Zhongshan Road should do some big things. If Zhongshan Road could host the cake-making competition that Xiamen people love during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole street would be filled with tables of people surrounding the game. (Create) style and pursuit of luxury that make people want to leave even after closing the door. The cultural definition of Zhongshan Road should be higher than commercial trade.
Yang Limao, associate professor of the Xiamen Municipal Party School of the Communist Party of China: Let people feel the cultural atmosphere of southern Fujian
The development of Zhongshan Road is a process of historical precipitation, and it will not become what it is now in a day or two. so. As a tourist attraction, Zhongshan Road should be characterized by warmth for both Xiamen residents and foreign tourists. Let tourists wander on Zhongshan Road and feel the warm, harmonious and quiet southern Fujian culture. In addition to the current cultural symbols such as sculptures, some merchants with southern Fujian culture should be introduced, such as books, calligraphy and paintings, etc. In addition, for merchants and products with southern Fujian characteristics, the Consumer Association can take measures such as licensing and fidelity to protect the interests of consumers to the maximum extent and make Zhongshan Road have a different credibility than ordinary shopping places. In addition, for local residents, Zhongshan Road should be a nostalgic place to restore some of the Zhongshan Road features that impressed them most in childhood, such as merchandise, shops, signboards, etc. Let the citizens feel that they are not here to shop, but more importantly to commemorate and pursue their dreams.
Liang Qunmin, deputy director of the Municipal Trade Development Bureau: Shopping mall store owners should not be too scattered
Single stores are not a good business model. After the atmosphere of Zhongshan Road becomes more popular, a strong commercial atmosphere will be formed. Atmosphere, all businesses are happy and prosperous. The most successful Xiamen MALL (large shopping malls) are SM and World Trade Center. There are also failure cases such as Perfume City and Dayi Mall. SM's success lies in its business philosophy. SM controls 80% of the entire MALL stores. What many developers think about is that after the project is over and the houses are sold out, I will have nothing to do with how to run the business. If many stores are in the hands of owners, it will be difficult for shopping malls to form a unified business.
Characteristics and location
As the birthplace of Xiamen’s commerce, Zhongshan Business District has a long history and a well-known reputation. It keeps pace with the times and always stands at the forefront of Xiamen Special Economic Zone’s economic development. cutting edge. It is located in the southwest of Xiamen Island, with Zhongshan Road as its main trunk and radiating out various branch roads. In addition to the further development of the Jukou Women's Street, the business formats of branch roads such as Dazhong Road and Zhenbang Road have gradually formed specialized streets with specialty commodities. Zhongshan Business District is one of the most commercially valuable business districts in Xiamen and even the entire Southern Fujian Golden Triangle. In addition to its inherent location advantages, it also has unique cultural heritage, reflecting Xiamen's inclusive and pioneering business style. Zhongshan Road in the business district is currently the only national-level "100 cities and 10,000 stores without fakes" demonstration street in Xiamen, and is known as one of the top ten famous streets in China. Large well-known enterprises such as Hualian, Laiya, and Paris Printemps have All stayed in it. In order to further build the Zhongshan business district, the Siming District Government took Zhongshan Road as the leader to develop and construct ten major projects, including Nanzhong Dadi, Minghui Plaza, Tiger City, etc. Currently, these ten major projects are all under construction, with a total investment of 6 billion yuan and a total construction area of ??nearly 1 million square meters. Many people in the industry believe that the good environment of Zhongshan Road and the development and completion of ten major projects will promote the further prosperity of Zhongshan business district.