Changsha’s second largest business district, which used to ＂sell mud to make money＂, is staging a resurgence of ＂East＂ Mountain.
"When I was here in Dong Tang, I could make money by selling yellow mud …"
Speaking this sentence, Xiong Wenzheng, deputy director of the office of Changsha Tongcheng Holding Co., Ltd., was sitting in the office on the seventh floor of Golden Family. He had been working and living in Dong Tang business circle for more than 30 years. At the peak of Dong Tang Department Store, Xiong Wen, who was in his early twenties, was passionate and splashed ink, writing a magnificent chapter "Four acres of brilliant land" for Dong Tang Department Store. (Originally published in Changsha People’s Congress Magazine)
Today, standing on the 7th floor of Golden Family, looking out from the window, Dong Tang business circle in late autumn of 2020 is still lively. The construction of the subway station has been basically completed, and the streets are crowded with people.
For an old man like Xiong Wen in Changsha, such a scene made him feel a little sentimental.
Dong Tang in the 1980s.
In the south city of Changsha, the Dong Tang business circle once flourished, bearing the memory of old Changsha. There used to be a reputation of "selling yellow mud can make money", and it also suffered from the embarrassment of declining popularity. "The road to the revival of Dong Tang business circle" has always been a hot topic.
What was the prosperity of Dong Tang business circle? Why did it once decline? Where is the road to its revival?
The east wind came overnight? Here once dominated the evolution theory of Changsha’s business.
In the memory of the old Changsha people, anyone who dabbles in the local business community will never forget the lively and beautiful era of "Fighting with Five Tigers in Changsha" …
In January, 1983, Dong Tang Department Store (the original site of Cash Family) located in the northwest corner of Dong Tang was completed and opened. In the following years, the nearby clothing trading building, cloth market and Changsha Workers’ Cultural Palace were completed and put into operation. Around this small area of Dong Tang, the integration of various formats has gradually formed. At that time, it really started an era of Changsha commerce, and the Dong Tang business circle also took shape.
The completed Dong Tang Department Store.
The salesperson of Dong Tang department store is picking up the goods for the customers.
There is a constant flow of traffic and people coming and going near Dong Tang Department Store.
In the commercial map of Changsha at that time, with the Dong Tang business circle raising the war flag in the southeast, Dong Tang Department Store, Shaoshan Road Department Store, Zhongshan Road Department Store, Xiaoyuan Department Store and Friendship Store at that time, ignited a commercial competition war of "five tigers fighting in Changsha".
Xiaoxiang Cinema at that time
Competition has promoted the development of business, but also brought an opportunity to take off.
Around 1995, a number of Changsha local time-honored brands, such as Friendship Mall, Fire Palace and Xinhua Building, successively settled in Dong Tang, which led to the completion of a large-scale upgrade of the business circle. The Dong Tang business circle and the Wuyi business circle echoed each other from a distance and became the main focus of Changsha’s business in the south of the city.
At this point, the Dong Tang business circle has entered a stage of rapid development-
17 years ago, Tongcheng Electric built a flagship store in Dong Tang, which is known as "the first store in Central China".
In 2004, Tongcheng Electric entered Dong Tang as a flagship store, which is also the largest store of Tongcheng Electric in the province.
In 2005, Dong Tang Metropolis Commercial Street opened, which is the first underground commercial street in Changsha with a total length of 624 meters.
In 2012, Friendship Mall achieved a turnover of 1.3 billion yuan with a business area of 27,000 square meters on the upper and lower floors, ranking first in Hunan’s commerce and trade industry.
With the vigorous development of commerce, in this small area of Dong Tang at that time, the Yuhua District Government embodied strategic and forward-looking policy support and planning guidance, and formed a teaching and training industry around the educational resources of Dong Tang business circle; The cultural tourism industry formed around Xiaoying Group has gradually taken shape. These characteristic industries once formed the basic market of Dong Tang business circle outside commerce. This all-round industrial layout once led the evolution and development of Changsha’s commerce …
Internet e-commerce impacts consumers’ shopping habits are quietly changing.
If you go back to more than ten years ago, if you come to Dong Tang at that time, you will see that the popularity is no less than the lively scene of Wuyi Square or Taiping Street today-
Dong Tang Department Store and Friendship Shopping Mall are separated on both sides of the square, where most famous brands that can be bought in Changsha at that time are gathered. And across the intersection, in the bustling metropolis commercial street and Dong Tang clothing exchange building, you can find all kinds of cheap and fashionable clothing accessories.
As an old-fashioned commercial street, the metropolitan commercial street ushered in its heyday after the Millennium.
According to the memories of merchants who used to do business here, people crowded around Dong Tang every day, and many Changsha citizens even bought clothes and swept the goods with big sacks. "Business will not be interrupted from morning till night. At that time, merchants had to go to the clothing building early every morning to grab goods, and there would be no best-selling styles if they were late. In the metropolitan commercial street and Dong Tang clothing exchange building, all fashionable clothes could be found at that time. Many young people go to Dong Tang to go shopping, eat, buy clothes or trinkets after work or after class … "
The once bustling commercial street in Dong Tang metropolis.
At that time, the Dong Tang business circle has become a rival to the May Day business circle. When it comes to Dong Tang business circle, if the admission of Pinghetang, Dong Tang Department Store and other groups is just a prelude, then the opening of Dong Tang Clothing Exchange Building and Metropolitan Commercial Street is the booster for Dong Tang business circle to reach its peak.
However, no one ever thought that after 2012, the decline of Dong Tang business circle came quietly …
With the popularity of online e-commerce shopping and the upgrading of people’s consumption level and business model, the business of underground commercial streets began to decline. Many shops are promoting sales with various discounts, but few people still patronize them, and their business is still very deserted. Some shops have already posted advertisements for subletting.
"At that time, e-commerce developed rapidly, and many popular styles of clothes were also available online, and the price was cheaper. The popularity here suddenly cooled down. Moreover, compared with other emerging business districts with rapid development and complete facilities in Changsha, the shopping environment of underground commercial streets here is not good. The business in other parts of Changsha is developing, but here in Dong Tang is stagnant … "Zhao Xu, the floor supervisor of Friendship Mall, has lived in Dong Tang for 26 years, and he can’t help but be deeply touched when he sees that the business circle in Dong Tang has grown from bustling to deserted.
Wang Yigao, deputy director, researcher and professor of Hunan Institute of Economic Geography, has lived in Dongtang business circle for more than 20 years. He analyzed the dilemma faced by Dong Tang business circle from a more professional perspective. "Internet e-commerce has a greater impact on physical stores, which has changed people’s consumption patterns and habits to some extent; In addition, shops in Dong Tang business district are generally expensive in rent and lack of functional supporting facilities. The times are developing, and citizens’ demand for shopping conditions and consumption environment is constantly improving. As an old business district, Dong Tang basically has no large underground parking lots, no boulevards for leisure walks, and no squares for fun … "
Professor Wang Yigao also said: Compared with the "Fire Palace" and "Taiping Old Street" with a strong sense of history in the May 1 business district, the Dong Tang business district lacks historical precipitation, which affects the development of diversified business patterns; For a long time, the architectural layout of Dong Tang was also lack of planning, and office buildings, factories, institutions, research institutions and commercial complexes were blindly confused, resulting in a chaotic pattern and mixed roads, which did not form a three-dimensional traffic pattern. All along, the businesses in Dong Tang have been fragmented and have not formed a unified alliance. Coupled with the subway construction in Dong Tang in recent years, various factors have caused the rapid decline of Dong Tang business circle in recent years.
Dong Tang Business Circle, Friendship Shopping Mall, Metropolis Commercial Street … These nouns have accompanied a generation of Changsha people through beautiful memories of youth. However, with the development of the times, the "old business circle" has become a lonely term.
When you make a comeback! Night economy and the "revival" assisted by subway lines
Dong Tang business district is bustling with night.
On June 28th, 2020, Changsha Metro Line 3 along Dong Tang was opened.
In the eyes of some insiders, this is a new opportunity and new kinetic energy for the revival of Dong Tang business circle. However, is it enough to solve the grand proposition of "revival of the old business district" just by a subway line?
Wang Lin, a professor at Central South University, once said in an interview with the media that all businesses in the Dong Tang business circle are fragmented, which has led to the current decline. To revitalize the business circle, we must first conform to the natural development of the economy, and then the guidance of the government.
Some people in the industry also pointed out that if the opening of the subway brings good times to the revival of Dong Tang business circle and Dong Tang’s own location is favorable, then it is necessary to find the "harmony between people" in the revival of business circle, that is, to face the shortcomings of business circle directly, and enterprises and the government should come up with some effective ways to break the situation.
Dong Tang Metropolitan Commercial Street
On July 15th, 2020, Liu Suyue, deputy secretary of Yuhua District Committee and district head, led a team to investigate the surrounding environment of Dong Tang business circle, and visited Golden Family, Xiaoxiang Film Group and other enterprises, and then organized some business representatives from Dong Tang business circle to hold a symposium on the theme of "How to revive Dong Tang business circle".
At the symposium, representatives of Xiaoxiang Film Group, Fire Palace, Golden Family, Pinghetang, SINOMACH International, Tongcheng Electric Appliances, Xinhua Building and other enterprises launched a heated discussion around the "revival" of Dong Tang business circle.
The person in charge of Hunan Xiaoxiang Cultural Industry Investment Co., Ltd. proposed that the Dong Tang business circle is in urgent need of transformation and upgrading! With the arrival of the economic development tide in experience tourism, Xiaoxiang Film Group wants to build an experience city of film and television culture, attract more people to know about film and television culture, and turn it into a "meeting room of film and television culture" in Hunan, so as to drain the business circle and provide a new engine for its development, thus driving the development of the whole business circle.
The relevant person in charge of Friendship Mall said that during the epidemic, the mall launched a series of live online activities, which was a great success. The sales performance in May and June increased by about 3% compared with last year. Through practice, it is found that the influence of live broadcast sales is very strong, so the next step will continue to deepen online channels, and at the same time, fashion brands that young people love will be introduced one after another.
Think about how to transform and upgrade, how to attract consumers, especially young consumers, and how to strengthen linkage, dislocation management and information sharing between businesses?
This is the thinking put forward by Liu Suyue, deputy secretary of Yuhua District Committee and district head, to Dong Tang business circle at this meeting.
Today’s Dong Tang business circle
At the meeting, the specific arrangements made by the Yuhua District Government for the development of Dong Tang business district are also ready to come out: good guidance, good planning, scientific positioning, focusing on Dong Tang’s characteristics and advantages; Plan more activities related to consumption festival according to time nodes, and guide businesses to strengthen linkage consumption and related consumption; It is necessary to take the lead in setting up business alliance institutions and strengthen the linkage between enterprises and governments and between enterprises; With the help of Tik Tok and other new media, strengthen the publicity of Dong Tang business circle; It is necessary to improve the basic supporting facilities of the business circle, strengthen the rectification of advertising spaces, improve the lighting at night, and solve the problem of parking difficulties through the sharing of parking spaces, so as to create a good market environment for the business circle.
There are indications that Dong Tang, the "old business district", seems to have signs of oriental wind. With the comprehensive promotion of Changsha’s "Night Star City" consumption festival and the launch of Yuhua District’s "Slow Nightlife, Meet You" activity, the Dong Tang business circle reappeared after the epidemic.
Dong Tang business circle in the future, just like a young man gearing up, is coming back with a new attitude, which is expected to reproduce the "paradise for shopping and leisure" in Changsha people’s mind.
Text | Li Jie
Poster | Wan Tao
Editor | Fan Jin
Source | Netease Hunan