After more than two years of upgrading, on December 2, the original Scitech Shopping Center on the east side of Chang'an Avenue in Beijing re-appeared with the new identity of "Scitech +".
The Beijing News reporter visited the site and found that after redesign and decoration, this old high-end department store has become a social gathering place suitable for "shopping and eating".At the same time, the experience format was introduced, with gyms, hairdressing and other life service formats, which further enriched the living atmosphere of Jianguomen business district.
On December 2nd, "SciTech+" opened, and many customers came to hear the news, and there was a queue in front of the escalator. Photo by Beijing News reporter Chen Lin.
Go to department stores, restaurants, and cafes gather.
As soon as the doors opened on the morning of December 2, many citizens who heard the news rushed to the mall. "There are a lot of people!Mr. Wang, a regular customer, walked into the mall with his wife and found that there was a queue in front of the escalator leading to the second floor.
There is no trace of a department store in the mall, and there is a patio on the first floor where the counters were originally placed, and it looks even brighter from the top floor. There is a huge fuchsia "velvet monster" that attracts citizens to take pictures and check in. It is understood that this is the "Velvet Monster" IP exclusively customized by "Scitech +" and cutting-edge installation artist Yao Wenjing, hoping to make the fluffy little monster become a touch of warmth in winter and pass it on to customers who come here.
The "** lot" on the first floor of Scitech + "is occupied by a huge "velvet monster" and has become a place for customers to take photos and check in. Photo by Beijing News reporter Chen Lin.
In Mr. Wang's memory, the original Scitech shopping center was "unattainable". "When it first opened in the '90s, it was selling high-end luxury brands. Mr. Wang heard that the mall was going to reopen today, so he came over with his wife to have a look, "The change is really big, I remember that when I came in before, it was full of counters for all kinds of high-end cosmetics." It was noon, he and his wife were ready to settle lunch here, and went to the 4th floor to find a Shunde restaurant, opened a reward, and called 7On the basis of 20% off, you can also use the coupon of "59 yuan group 100 yuan".
It is understood that the Scitech Shopping Center, which opened in 1992, was once a representative of the old high-end department stores, and created a number of "firsts" in the business community of Beijing in the early days of its opening: the first shopping mall with the most automatic rollers, the first shopping mall to use the computer network cash register system, and the first high-end boutique department store ...... to bring luxury brands into Beijing
With the change of consumption patterns and the rise of new shopping malls, Scitech shopping malls have gradually dimmed in the new market environment and have been included in the first batch of "one store, one policy" pilot projects in Beijing. At the end of March 2020, the Scitech Mall officially closed.
After more than two years of upgrading, Scitech Shopping Center was renamed "Scitech +" and was given a new positioning - "Beijing CBD New Social Gathering Place". According to "Scitech +", the current occupancy rate of shopping malls exceeds 98%, and the opening rate has reached 88%.
The reporter visited the scene and saw that the reloaded "Scitech +" introduced a large number of catering formats, distributed on different floors, and there were 5 shops on the first floor alone mainly engaged in coffee and teaMany restaurants have tailored their first store and new image store for "Scitech +". From the theme of each floor, it can be seen that "shopping and eating" has become the main feature of the new shopping center, such as "slightly drunk" on the first floor, "awakening" on the second floor, "elegant collection" on the third floor, "Zhenwei" on the fourth floor, "delicious food" on the fifth floor, and "fireworks" on the basement floor.
"Scitech +" opened after renovation, attracting many regular customers from the surrounding area to come to experience. Photo by Beijing News reporter Chen Lin.
New and old faces gathered, looking forward to Seite becoming a new landmark in Beijing again.
The first store of the new brand BON BOEUF in the country created by the Black Pearl One Diamond Restaurant Lansong has settled in "Scitech +". Ye Xin, the manager of Lansong, said that she had been choosing a site for Bon Boeuf since the year before, but she had not found the ideal location. "Then Seth approached us, and we felt that it was a good fit for the brand, so we hit it off. Ye Xin said that the cosmetics she used when she got married were bought at Scitech Shopping Center, so she has a special affection for this place. She and her husband have carefully designed the restaurant to facilitate business activities. "You can have a meeting while eating and singing, and it's a new kind of integration experience. Ye Xin said that he looked forward to Saite regaining its glory and becoming a new landmark of Beijing catering again.
On the second floor of "Scitech +", there is a shop that is like a "rough house", with only simple cement floors and white walls. However, it is very popular, and all kinds of handmade exquisite ornaments and accessories gather into a market, attracting many customers to come and buy. "This space is a new offline social shopping scene created by our Hola youth creative social platform, with the theme of "15° off the life set". Lv Lin, the founder of the Oula Youth Creative Social Platform, introduced that this venue focuses on "social space", and there are more than 6,000 registered users online, mainly some artists, independent designers, handicraftsmen, etc., who will use their own perspective to interpret the interpretation of current life, and this space is to let their ideas land.
Our format is not fixed, for example, it is open for 7 days, and this is a handmade market;In the future, it will be a flexible combination, with the possibility of hosting a living theater, an interactive philosophy club, an exhibition of animal and plant specimens, handicraft workshops and ......Lu Lin said that each entrepreneur provides themes and ideas, and after the review is passed, they help them make their ideas land. There are currently six such spaces in Beijing, and they have created the concept of "urban living rooms" in shopping malls, shopping malls and parks, which can be used as a social place for greeting guests, and can also be a self-consistent space for a short period of time.
A handmade market on the second floor of "SciTech+" attracts many customers. It's a flexible space that creates social scenes based on different themes. Photo by Beijing News reporter Chen Lin.
Some of the old merchants are also returning. When Jipintang first entered Chinese mainland in the 90s, its first store opened in Scitech and did not leave until the mall closed in March 2020. Luo Yao, the head of the Beijing region of Jipintang, said that when he first settled in, there was only a 1 square meter counter at the entrance of the supermarket, which was later expanded to 30 square meters, and the annual turnover could reach 30 million yuan at the peak. "Scitech not only carries the memory of the times, but also the memory of the development of Jipintang, so this time we chose to return. Luo Yao said that the opening of the latest image store in Beijing, in addition to the retail area, the store also set up an open processing workshop, which can be used for on-site processing of cordyceps, fish maw, bird's nest, sea cucumber and other ingredients ordered by customers. In addition, Starbucks, located on the ground floor of the mall, has also returned, upgrading to a Starbucks selection store on the first floor of the street.
Old Scitech used to be a landmark in Beijing's business, focusing on high-end, not only the best, but also the most expensive. In the minds of Beijingers, Lao Saite is synonymous with high-end business. All first-line brands and internationally renowned brands have counters in Laosette. Zhao Jian, a veteran employee, has been in the race for nearly 30 years, and in his opinion, this transformation is to take advantage of the trend, "Shopping malls should provide customers with catering, leisure, entertainment and other formats, which is what emerging shopping malls or shopping centers should have." He said, "In the past, in Lao Seite, we had a saying called 'creating a century-old brand', which is a complex of Lao Seite people." Now after the company's restructuring, a brand-new Scitech has set sail again, as an old employee, we still hope to contribute to the unfinished strength of Scitech. ”
"Scitech +" opened, and children performed a lion dance in the mall. Photo by Beijing News reporter Chen Lin.
To build an international consumption center city, "one store, one policy" to help upgrade traditional shopping malls.
Beijing is speeding up the construction of an international consumption center city, and the transformation and upgrading of traditional shopping malls has received extensive attention in recent years. In view of the aging hardware facilities of traditional shopping malls and the difficulty in adapting to new consumer demand, in 2019, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, together with relevant departments and districts, actively carried out relevant work, adopted the method of "pilot first", and promoted the upgrading and transformation of traditional shopping malls with "one store and one policy".
The "one store, one policy" transformation has included 25 shopping malls in the pilot list, including 20 pilot enterprises such as Chang'an shopping mall, which have basically completed the upgrading and transformation, and the main methods include store closure transformation, adjustment of positioning, and optimization of business brands. For example, Dong'an Market has completed the renovation of its store closure and upgraded to the most fashionable immersive handmade department store in Beijing. In recent years, in the new market environment, Chang'an shopping mall has adjusted its business format to increase catering formats such as "parents' canteen" and simple meals. Through the upgrade, in July this year, the passenger flow of Chang'an shopping mall increased by 30% year-on-year, and the passenger flow of the renovated four-floor increased by 105% year-on-year. Wangfujing Joy Shopping Center, which has been upgraded from the new Yansha Gold Street Shopping Plaza, will also open soon, becoming the first "New Guochao Shopping Center" in China.
Beijing has also introduced a financial discount incentive policy to guide social capital to actively participate in the upgrading and transformation of traditional shopping malls. The relevant person in charge of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce said in an interview with the Beijing News reporter that at present, the demonstration role of the "one store, one policy" pilot enterprises in terms of transformation methods, image design, business transformation, brand portfolio, etc., has driven more than 20 shopping malls in the city to take the initiative to transform and upgrade.
From the preliminary planning to the settlement of merchants, the relevant departments also took the initiative to provide services such as policy promotion and training, pre-examination of various materials, and acceptance of construction procedures, so as to open up the "last mile" of policy implementation.
For example, in the process of signing the brand of "Scitech +", the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the Chaoyang District Bureau of Commerce, the Chaoyang District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, the Jianwai Street Office and other departments have carried out a series of policy publicity and training for the settled merchants, and provided services such as data pre-examination and door-to-door acceptance of construction procedures, so as to make the service go ahead as much as possible and provide guarantee for the smooth opening of merchants.
The renovation of old shopping malls is not a one-time thing, and it needs to constantly combine the new needs of the market to provide a unique consumer experience. Lai Yang, a member of the Expert Committee of the China Federation of Commerce and executive vice president of the Beijing Business Economics Association, said in an interview with reporters that in recent years, driven by the empowerment of science and technology and consumption upgrading, China's consumer market has gradually developed towards refinement and personalization, and new consumption has emerged.
He believes that an important feature of the new consumption era is consumers' pursuit of quality upgrading, and more and more consumers are transitioning from the pursuit of material needs to the pursuit of psychological satisfaction and spiritual enjoyment, including cultural and artistic consumption, travel and experience consumption, self-improvement and education and training, social networks and digital entertainment, etc., which are reflected in aesthetics, cultural and entertainment experiences, social community display and identity, and the proportion of consumption is getting higher and higher. In the process of transformation, traditional shopping malls should pay attention to consumers' purchase interests, and enhance the emotional value of the brand through unique scene design, so as to be recognized by a wider range of consumers.
Beijing News reporter Chen Lin.
Edited by Liu Mengjie and proofread by Wu Xingfa.