What shaped Shanghai's "consumer gene"?

Cover Map Source: Photo Network 500828573

Encourage "trendy worship", let the Internet celebrity "plant grass" with goods, "make festivals" discount promotion, and to impress female consumers with advertising involving gender concepts, specially set up movie theaters, game halls, children's amusement parks ... These shopping is now shopping The central division is used to the customer's solution technique, and the department stores in Shanghai a hundred years ago have actually used it?

Not only an intangible business atmosphere. Large shopping malls always love to build eye -catching giant landmarks, many shopping malls often pile up in a business district, pedestrian streets seem to be standard in the business district ... These seemingly not surprising design layouts, maybe department stores are also in many cities in China. The result of space planning and building landscape?

After reading the book "Consumer Paradise: Department Store and Shanghai Urban Culture" in modern times, people can't help but re -examine why our city looks like it.

Author: Lian Lingling Press: Social Science Literature Publishing House

In recent years, the century -old department stores around the world have endless news of bankruptcy. The department store that used to be synonymous with fashion is gradually fading out of the market competition of the retail industry. As a "imported product", what did department stores bring to the city during the century?

It is an excellent observation sample. Through the book "Consumer Paradise: Department Store and Modern Shanghai Urban Culture", department stores are not only display windows for Linglang goods, but also a mirror we understand Shanghai and even more cities.

Why is it Shanghai?

In many film and television works, ancient stores are mostly controlled by guilds, and they are usually specialized in one type of products. At the same time, a shop is mostly lined up along the street, rarely included in a large integrated store.

This impression was confirmed in the book. According to the author Ling Lingling's research, although there have also been large -scale comprehensive stores in Zhili, Suzhou and other places in the late Ming Dynasty, there are fewer "popular products" sold in these stores, and more about daily necessities related grocery stores In the end, it was not transformed into a modern department store.

The real "department store" was the earliest time in the middle of the 19th century. Prior to this, the industrial revolution promoted the mechanization of production. In Western Europe and North America, a large number of production brings new problems: how to digest inventory. As a solution, the department store that is regarded as the "Retail Revolution" was born.

Picture source: Photo Network 502461538

The emergence of department stores did not replace the original small stores, but this commercial organization that adapted to the new production model soon exported to the world with the colonies of Western European countries. The first department store in Australia was established by the Anthony Heton family from the United Kingdom.

At the end of the 19th century, China was impacted by this wave of retail revolution. First, British merchants set up department stores in Shanghai and Hong Kong in my country; by the beginning of the 20th century, Cantonese businessmen who were initially went to Australia's gold rushed to Australia witnessed the department stores opened by Heton's and son in Sydney. After success, while returning to China, this new retail format also brought this new retail format back to China.

By 1925, Shanghai already had the "top four companies" opened by British businessmen, as well as the first, Yongan, Daxin founded by the overseas Chinese, and the new new company set up by senior staff to leave. The company ", which is the" four major companies "in the old Shanghai exit.

There were more than one city that opened the port earlier. Why can Shanghai be a "cradle of department stores"? In the author's opinion, Shanghai and other earlier developed department stores have the advantages of population, market and consumption willingness. Taking the population as an example, the rapid expansion of the Shanghai population undoubtedly provides a huge market for consumer development.

In 1866, the population of Shanghai County was about 540,000; the number in 1909 has been turned, and the total number has increased to approximately 1.29 million; by 1934, the population of Shanghai has exceeded 3.5 million; at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Shanghai has a population of 5.4 million, becoming the fifth largest metropolis in the world, when it is second only to London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo.

In addition to demand, sufficient supply also lays the foundation for Shanghai's consumer genes. Although the so -called "retail revolution" is to solve the problem brought by the "production revolution", when department stores appear in Shanghai, there is actually no corresponding "production revolution" foundation. However, data at that time showed that the number of goods circulating in Shanghai was first in the country.

After the opening of Shanghai, Guangzhou replaced Guangzhou to become China's largest commodity transfer station. From 1860 to 1890, Shanghai's foreign trade accounted for more than half of the total import and export value of the country, and the proportion of imported goods value exceeded 60 %. Among them, about 70%of the goods imported by China each year to other ports; the other 1/4-1/3 remains in Shanghai.

In addition, Shanghai, which has the rapid development of urban infrastructure, especially the rapid development of public transportation, is also strongly attractive. The main way of transportation of ordinary people was walking, which also limited the scope of "consumers". In the 1870s, new transportation such as carriages, bicycles, human vehicles, cars, and even trams appeared in Shanghai. By 1936, there were 35 tram lines in Shanghai and 30 bus lines. The average daily passenger volume would be more than 570,000.

This is undoubtedly a huge help for department stores that need to develop a large number of new customers to increase the turnover rate of commodity.

Reshaped Shanghai? Shanghai has achieved department stores. The department store with the "consumption" symbol has also reshaped Shanghai tangiblely.

"These department stores play the main role in reshaping Shanghai's urban space, especially Nanjing Road and general retail stores have become the characteristics of defining cities." As the book says that, like many big cities in the world, before the emergence of department stores, even retail stores that cater to elite are not located in important buildings, and they have not worked hard to show passers -by.

However, due to the number of commodities of department stores, it has increased significantly compared with the previous single stores, and the expansion of the facade has become an inevitable trend. Giant buildings have followed the characteristics of this new store.

For example, the first department store Store Store in the United States is located in the city center of New York. It is 40 % of the building high. It was the first commercial building using white marble as an outer wall at that time. The new building of the department store Pomatoya is four floors, covering an area of ​​more than 50,000 square meters, and is regarded as a typical building of department stores.

Since then, this eye -catching store has forming a trend and has become a striking building of many international urban cities. The changes in urban landscapes brought by department stores have also affected Shanghai.

According to the author's research, before the emergence of the two department stores of Xian Shi and Yongan at that time, the buildings on both sides of the west section of Nanjing Road in Shanghai were mainly Chinese architecture on two and three floors. After 1910, the department store was built, and the towering tower became a prominent landmark in Nanjing Road. In order to attract more new customers other than loyal cooked customers, department stores use huge window to show passers -by.

Large -scale buildings and windows not only cause visual impacts, but even drive the competition of surrounding stores to join this visual consumption. Stores that do not pay attention to or do not need to display window display have gradually withdrew from Nanjing Road. It also achieved one of the famous commercial centers in Shanghai, Nanjing West Road.

Not only is it a physical reshaping, the department store may also affect Shanghai's spiritual temperament.

Picture source: Photo Network 500260079

When telling the impact of architecture and window display on the city, the author quoted a paragraph of cultural geography scientist Quinn: "The display began to change the texture of urban life, the rich images presented, and the expansion of the display of desires. The bombardment of the bombing crowd with a huge visual stimulation affects the hearts of the city.

On the other hand, according to the views of the book, during the new cultural movement, and after the new cultural movement, Chinese intellectuals have many arguments such as democracy, science, men and women equality, and "Chinese people". Many Shanghai citizens have become specific and vivid.

For example, Shanghai's Yongan Department Store has followed the major department stores in Europe and the United States. Since May 1935, the "Yongan Monthly" is released. Among them, the women lying in the fan advertisement are on the short hair of Shixing, wearing a close -fitting cheongsam. Stepping on the exposed high -heeled sandals -this was the popular dress of the so -called "new women" at that time.

As the book says, "department stores are the ultimate performance of 'modern Shanghai'." In the past century, as a retail format, department stores have more or less affected many Chinese cities including Shanghai. Earlier, the "city" reflected by the large mirror of consumption was not just a "progressive civilization" consumption space, but also a new trend of ideological debate.

Today, the digital economy has become the most important feature of the fourth industrial revolution. The rapid development of online shopping online, the department store format is gradually slightly slightly slightly slightly slightly slightly slightly slightly slightly slightly slightly slightly slightly changed? This question takes time to give the answer.

The picture in the article is not marked from the screenshot from the book

Daily Economic News

- END -