I went to Shanghai in China to hold seminar about the topic “future of retail” and I took this opportunity to look around in Shanghai for new retail thoughts and inspiration. Here are my conclusions.
Places mentioned in the text are the following:
K11, shopping center
M50, gallery district
Gentle Monster Haus, shop
Hai550, shopping center
Xian Suo, shopping area (don’t have a joint website so check out details at the Freitag flagship store)
Columbia Circle, shopping district (also not a website on it’s own so link to architects)
Anfu Road, shopping street
One way to look at the changes and new things in Shanghai is to look and compare to my previous trips to this city. First time I went to Shanghai was in 2006. A classical tourist trip. At monuments people could stop to stare and take pictures of you as a western representative. We were strange. The copy market was huge and everything very exotic. People at the front desk of the reception barely spoke English and actually ducked when you came close to ask a question. That time I went to super fancy Bar Rouge and was amazed of this western luxury in a socialist country.
In 2019 I went to do a research and trend trip for a travel agency. My report is here. And with the travel agency here. At that time Chinese design stars like Neri & Hu were doing design built on Shanghai’s own culture. Copy markets were still there but getting less interesting.
And now 2024. Some of my thoughts on changes. Service have grown immensely. There is still a language barrier but the attitude is completely changed. Every store I went to people reached for their phones and used a translator. I got lost at one time in Shanghai and couldn’t find a taxi, but eventually got to a youth hostel where a front desk person didn’t speak English. But with our phones we managed to book a similar service like Uber, and I paid her cash. Also, I lost my phone and had the whole hotel look for my device. It’s a whole new mindset of service compared to previously.
Technology have of course boomed. Few use cash – and if you plan to go – you need to get WeChat and pay via their services.
Copy culture is out. And I think I counted one million Starbucks. Two McDonalds but one million Starbucks. Taxis are cheap, but you need to either have cash or the WeChat pay service.
And of course the whole selfesteem with their own Shanghai culture is exploading. I am sure we will see much more of that. Today you can go to a fashion department store of five floors – with only Chinese design.
And last of this introduction – sutainability is here. Lots of vintage but also pure sustainable brands.
And as an overlay between introduction and proper discussion on retail – I find it enormously interesting that H&M during this week (Shanghai Fashion Week) launched a collection – only available in Shanghai.
And a last detail on the energy of Shanghai. By accident I was staying at the same hotel as the design manager from H&M who was responsible for this collection. He normally lives in Hong Kong and we compared the two cities. He said that Hong Kong was like LA and Shanghai like New York. LA is a bit slower, healthier, relaxed, while New York is busy, tempo and energetic. And I think that could be true for Shanghai.
K11, shopping center
Last time I was here, I was amazed by how this shopping center managed to mix culture and craft with normal shopping. The whole space was then full of DIY and fun. Not so much any more. Is art as a shopping driver out? Perhaps. On the ground level there was a pretty big space with some kind of art installation you payed to get in to.
It was okey… But not as new as I felt it was 2019. And much fewer players. Not worth it.
M50, gallery district
Also one of the places I went to last time. This worn site is 75% galleries, but also some food and a bit of shopping. Worth a stop.
Gentle Monster, Haus – a shop
Shanghai’s most talked about shop. Gentle Monster is a brand focusing on sunglasses and eyewear. But the whole store is full of crazy and interesting art. But I didn’t really see anyone go to a cashier to pay for a product. People were more foucused on looking at things – not shopping.
The whole Gentle Monster store is a much talked about place. I saw a loooooot of people taking pictures but not shopping so much. This above piece is also interesting. If you shop for a certain amount you get to choose a stone and at the end of the room you can use the stone as a key to a safe and got tons of money. Shopping and lottery?
Hai550
Hai550 is pretty near Gentle Monster and this is an amazing department store. Loved this. It opened in September or so. Lot of nice fashion, a bit of beauty and a whole floor on sustainability.
Beauty
I just loved this brand with fun names on perfumes like “Frozen Eyelashes”.
Fashion and fun.
And then this. A whole floor with sustainable stuff. Big love.
Look at the sign with the six R’s
Sustainable set up.
Refill sections for food, soad and schampoo etc.
Innovative stuff. This made of coconut.
Oh, and almost everything in Shanghai is now “pet friendly”. Even temples.
And walking around this area between Hai550 and Gentle Monster is fun. Highly recommend.
Xian Suo
This is a district just like M50. Between two larger streets is a net of small alleys and dead-ends. This is where the headquarter of Design Shanghai is and super trendy magazine Apartemento have a shop. Nice and trendy.
Columbia Circle
Columbia Circle feels very western with it’s layout and everything. Spacious, new buildings and lot of food. But still some interesting retail especially those with focus on sustainability.
I love this and will have this in my trend report further on. I think it is amazing that a store promotes using your old clothes and not just buy new stuff.
Anfu Road
One of the places I Googled from home was a store at this street. And as mentioned I happened to talk to the guy at H&M. And he strongly suggested this street. And yes, it is absolutley worth it. This is the trendy “influencer street”. This is where you go to photograph or to be photographed at. Everyone is dressed to their teeth. Young and old.
This is the store called Deja Vu and apparently winner for best retail design in 2022 according to Dezeen.
The whole store is about vintage and second hand. And looooooooook at this space.
The area is soooo cool that even Zara have a pop up shop for their designer collabs.
But in general – great street for just peoplewatching. I think that the parallell street Julu Road is also interesting.
And outro…
Of course Shanghai is also about the western fashion brands. They have huge spaces. But maybe not so unique. Just big.
I went to two of the other districs I saw in 2019 – French Concession and Xintiandi. A strong luke warm review. Altar is a fashion concept in Shanghai that was super hyped in 2019 and now is so so…
There are of course also a lot of Japanese retail but we will talk more about that in November when I go to Tokyo.
And of course plenty of shopping centers and malls try to stand out. Here one of the bigger ones why you go to a grocery store buy your veggies as plush toys. Or go to the coffee maker and get a plush toy coffee. Fun – but not overly fun.
Conclusion
I think I want to send you off with some kind of conclusion. Shanghai is of course changing. Sustainability is getting a lot of attention. Both vintage but overall new ideas.
Perhaps the most talked about retail are the ones with large art installations – but do people really shop things here? In my mind – no. Like Gentle Monster. Everyone walked around taking photos – but did anyone buy anything? No. Perhaps the conclusion is that we should give some kind of unique experience but don’t overdo it.