Reporter Li Mengyao
Since its closure in 2017, for 7 years, the building where the former Guihe commercial building was located has still shown no signs of recovery. Located in the "C position" of Quancheng Road in Jinan, why is this commercial building still idle?
It took seven years to lease
So far, no one has taken over
On January 30, the pedestrian street of Quancheng Road in Jinan was full of people, approaching the Spring Festival, and the commercial complexes on both sides created a New Year's atmosphere everywhere. In the heart of Quancheng Road, a building opposite Shimao Plaza is a bit out of place for the whole street. If it weren't for the unopened advertisements on the glass and the words on the top of the building, it would be hard to think that this was the once glorious Guihe commercial building.
The map shows that this place is called "Pearl Spring Building", the façade of the building is still 10 years ago decoration style, compared with the surrounding modern commercial complex, there is no electronic advertising screen here, some of the corners are still damaged, the revolving door of the entrance is covered with a layer of dust, and the surrounding glass is covered by advertising posters, so you can't see the interior clearly. Through the revolving door, you can see that the building is empty, and there is also a layer of dust on the ground.
The building is full of advertisements for building investment, and the door on the north side can enter and exit normally, and people can be seen entering and exiting from time to time.
A security guard said that the 1st to 7th floors of the building are shopping malls, which is where the original Guihe commercial building is located. Floors 7-13 are office buildings, which currently have some tenants, but many are also empty. "Whether it's a shopping mall or an office building, it's been renting for years. ”
Since the withdrawal of Guihe Commercial Building in 2017, it has been idle for 7 years. At that time, this building was a representative of Jinan's high-end consumption. "At that time, it was a very decent thing to go to Guihe commercial buildings to buy things, most of the people who went there to shop were middle and high-income people, and the shopping malls sold luxury goods, brand clothing, etc., and hung the label of Guihe, and the gifts were also very handy. Mr. Wang, a citizen who passed by Quancheng Road by bus, said that seeing its current appearance, people can't help but miss its former glory.
I still remember when Guihe Commercial Building was closed for sale, the song "How to Say Love" was circulated, and I was still thinking at that time that such a good location should not worry about rent at all, but I didn't expect that this closure would be 7 years. Mr. Wu, a citizen, said.
It used to be the "top stream" of King Street
However, the road to transformation is bumpy
There are currently more than 10 office buildings rented out, and there are many floors and room types to choose from. On January 30, the reporter came to the Pearl Spring Building as a renter, and a property manager here said that in addition to the boss, who is currently responsible for the operation of the Pearl Spring Building, there are two colleagues in the investment promotion department, and two property personnel are responsible for the cleaning of the office building.
Once, the withdrawal of Guihe Commercial Building was a sensation, but when asked about the reason, the staff member said that it was due to the strategic adjustment of Guihe Commercial Building, and others were reluctant to say more.
However, according to previous reports, Mr. Liu, a former executive of the commercial building, said in an interview that the main reason is that the commercial building wants to transform into a small complex, but the owner does not agree.
It is reported that Guihe Commercial Building opened on May 1, 2002, at that time, there was no Hang Lung or Shimao on Quancheng Road. The mall has an operating area of about 30,000 square meters, and was considered by the industry to be a large-scale mid-to-high-end shopping place with international standards at that time, both in terms of decoration style and the goods sold. In addition, according to Mr. Liu, Guihe Commercial Building has also developed a unique first-chain channel and formed a differentiated competition with Jinan department store giant Ginza.
At that time, in Guihe Commercial Building, I could see many brands that I didn't know before. Recalling the appearance of the commercial building in the past, Mr. Zhang, a citizen, said that just like the "first store economy" that merchants have been pursuing now, Guihe commercial buildings have also introduced some brands that are not available elsewhere. For example, the first Starbucks in Jinan landed in Guihe Commercial Building, and at that time, it was very bourgeois to come here for a date.
The impact began with the rise of a large number of commercial complexes, in 2010 through the fourth road Wanda opened, in August 2011 Quancheng Road Henglong opened, followed by May 2014 Shimao Plaza and Kuanhouli historical and cultural district into the market, Quancheng Road two shopping malls commercial area of nearly 300,000 square meters, Shimao Plaza alone covers an area of 120,000 square meters, is four times the size of Guihe commercial building. They not only greatly disperse the passenger flow of Guihe commercial buildings, but also drive the commercial atmosphere on the south side of Quancheng Road.
In addition to the area and fashionable hard and soft decoration, the positioning of the complex is often a one-stop experience integrating eating, drinking, entertainment and Tesco, and the traditional department stores that only serve specific customers have no competitive advantage. Traditional commercial buildings are labeled as aging and declining in front of a number of new commercial entities.
In addition, with the rise of the e-commerce economy, online shopping has become an important channel for people's purposeful shopping, and it is also replacing the department store format.
In the past few years, the transformation of commercial complexes has become the way for many traditional department stores to survive, such as Wangfujing in Beijing and Wushang Asia Trade Plaza in Wuhan. There are not a few traditional department stores in Jinan, such as the transformation of people's shopping malls into Zhenhua commercial buildings. According to statistics, by 2017, only Guihe Commercial Building and Grand View Garden were left in the pure department store of Jinan's retail market.
Guihe commercial building also wanted to change, but it was very helpless, the property was not its own, and it was necessary to change it to experience formats such as catering, and the owner did not agree. Mr. Liu said.
It is understood that Guihe Commercial Building is a leased property, not a self-owned property. The advantage of self-owned property is not only that you don't have to worry about the cost of rent, but also that you have strong autonomy and can be transformed when you want to.
There is no shortage of interested people in seven years
As soon as I heard the "whole rent", I stopped
After inquiry, this Pearl Spring Building, which is famous for Guihe Commercial Building, belongs to Jinan Pearl Spring Building, which is a foreign-funded enterprise, with two companies, Pearl Spring Building and Jinan Junhong Property Management.
Our intention was to rent the whole thing, and if we had subletted, we would have been able to rent it out a long time ago. "The staff in charge of investment promotion in Jinan Pearl Spring Building said that after Guihe Commercial Building moved away, the 1st to 7th floors have been attracting investment, but there is no suitable choice.
The company is also negotiating with several partners, some for commercial complex projects and some for companies, but nothing has yet been decided. Asked if it was expected to open next year, the staff member smiled and said it was hard to say.
The reporter noticed that if you want to build a large-scale commercial complex here, the shopping mall part of the building is not quite in line with the modern trend in terms of structure and decoration.
Once the enterprise settles in, it is a large expense from decoration to warm-up, and the reason why it has not been rented out is also related to the investment environment in the past two years. The staff member said.
At present, only the vacant space on the north side of the Pearl Springs Building can park vehicles, the staff revealed that previously, the basement of the mall was originally a commercial form, after renting out, it is planned to change the negative floor of the mall into a parking lot, and hand over to the mall to be responsible.
In addition, after the building is leased, there are also preliminary plans for the decoration of the building. "When the time comes, the façade of the building may be renovated. The staff member said.
But when the new Pearl Springs Mansion will be ushered in, everything is unknown.
I want to "stand firm" in the future
Misplaced competition is key
Quancheng Road, which is less than two kilometers long, has always been known as the "Golden Street" of Jinan. The development of "Golden Street" has also fluctuated with the transformation and upgrading of the environment and the changes of urban commercial complexes.
At that time, Quancheng Road was the most lively in the west, with the earliest Wanda Plaza in Jinan (later renamed Yuehui Plaza), Wal-Mart on the 1 and 2nd floors of Wanda, as well as Pizza Hut and New Century Cinema, etc., which was the earliest commercial complex on Quancheng Road that integrated eating, drinking, playing and Tesco. Mr. Wu, a citizen, recalled that in addition, the three major electrical appliance retail brands Sanlian, Suning, and Gome have set up their largest in Jinan in the west of Quancheng Road, which is very popular.
A number of large-scale commercial complexes and large-scale home appliance chain stores have maintained the pattern of cold in the east and hot in the west on Quancheng Road for many years.
In 2007, in the middle of Quancheng Road, the once prosperous Jinan Department Store was demolished; In the east and middle of Quancheng Road, only Guihe Shopping Center and Guihe Commercial Building can be regarded as powerful shopping malls, and there are also some jewelry stores.
In 2010, Hang Lung Plaza, Shimao International Plaza and Kuanhouli Commercial Street opened one after another, and the south side of the east end of Quancheng Road suddenly became lively.
With the withdrawal of Guihe Commercial Building in 2017 and Walmart's withdrawal from Old Wanda in the west in 2019, Quancheng Road has shown a trend of becoming more and more "hot" in the east and more popular in the south, which has basically formed today's business pattern.
Nowadays, walking on Quancheng Road, the reporter noticed that there are not many commercial buildings on the north side of Quancheng Road, such as Huaneng Building and Sinur Building, but most of the businesses are hotels, office buildings and some sports brands and casual brand clothing stores.
In addition to Furong Street, the two commercial streets of Quanle Fang and Xinfang Lane in the West Lane of the county have been open for many years, but they have always been almost "hot". The reporter visited twice on weekdays and weekends, and there were only a few customers strolling in the Spring Music Place, and during lunch and dinner, several restaurants that were open were still a little popular.
The original Hongshangfang commercial block on the east side of Beishou Road, Provincial Front Street, has been positioned to build a fashionable night economy block in Jinan, but after several years of development, it has been deserted. After adjustment, the area from Hongshangfang to the front street of the provincial capital is now called Qifang Lane, and there is also the logo of Shandong International Fashion Creative Center, and several bars in the Qifang Lane block are not very popular.
Four years after Walmart withdrew, in August 2023, Shandong's first "8+16" night-time economic complex - "Quanchengli Xincc" opened, making the west of Quancheng Road active again, at the end of last year, Sanlian Household Appliances "killed" back to Quancheng Road after 12 years, and the temperature difference between "hot in the east and cold in the west" has also improved.
Industry insiders pointed out that although Guihe commercial building is semi-"deserted", its geographical location is still first-class, although the World Trade Center, Henglong, Kuanhouli and other comprehensive commercial centers are strong competitors, but as long as the building does a good job of dislocation competition, and make good use of the drainage and linkage of the surrounding commercial bodies, it is still very expected that it can revive its former glory.
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