Upscale Yashow Almost Dead Only Six Months In, Tenants Threaten Revolt

Sanlitun's Yashow, once the favorite bargaining spot for Beijing shoppers but relaunched last fall as a high-end fashion mall, is in trouble, with tenants rallying for rent refunds and others pulling out now that their second payments are due.

The once-bustling market, home to all manner of goods from knockoff clothing and suitcases to knickknacks and pearls, has seen interior foot traffic plummet to near zero as a consequence of its attempt to rebrand itself into a collection of premium boutiques charging top-end prices.

After spending the first eight months of 2015 under renovation, the mall finally re-opened in September with an odd combination of high-priced boutiques, a Burger King, and some remnants of its former self (tailor shops and a couple of DVD stores).

Almost exactly six months since then, it's safe to say the attempt to go upscale has been a failure.

A recent stroll through the market found it deserted. Where once you had to wait in line behind crowds to even get on the escalators, wide hallways are now entirely unimpeded by other shoppers. Brightly polished floors remain that way, with nary a scuff from a shoe on them.

The once vibrant shopkeepers – famous for their multilingual bargaining skills – have been replaced by lonely-looking boutique operators who are left to ponder their ill fortunes as they while away the hours recalling the foot traffic that once flooded the place from across the globe.

Management are now scrambling for a solution, as rent is charged in six-month chunks and the second payment is currently due. Already several vendors have decided to cut their losses and pull out.

One vendor who asked to remain anonymous said the management has already offered every vendor that stays 1.5 months of free rent, and are promising a management shakeup that will result in better service to tenants.

Another vendor with shops in other malls in Beijing said that the tenant service experience from the landlord at Yashow has easily been the worst they've ever witnessed in the city, while on the other hand the rent is amongst the highest.

The move to go upscale never made sense to many Beijingers because of the building's tried-and-true reputation for low prices, knockoff goods and the chance to bargain. And with plenty of high-end choices just next door in uber-cool Taikoo Li, an upscale Yashow could at best hope to be a mere wallflower next to its flashy sister.

While Beijing is no stranger to dead malls, it's hard to even imagine a more disastrous makeover in the annals of the city's fertile and fast-moving commercial real estate market.

One would have to dig deep to find an example of another venue that turned a decade-plus of retail gold into sh*t in one fell swoop, particularly in a high-traffic spot that's the wet dream of any developer.

The situation is most dire for the merchants trapped inside, who depend entirely on people coming in through the mall's front doors.

Those shops with street-facing exteriors – especially the ones that face Taikoo Li – are faring better. Ironically for an upscale mall, perhaps the most successful tenant is the decidedly downmarket Burger King on the first floor.

Others, such as popular wine retailer Cheers, have also built a steady businesses, relying on their high-visibility, exterior-facing shopfronts. 

Marketing of the venue has also been disastrous. The mall's WeChat account busies itself sending out the occasional piece of dated celebrity gossip that garners anemic viewcounts of under 200, almost unfathomably low numbers given the market previous would have that many people walking through its doors every 10 minutes.

Its website is made entirely with Flash, rendering it impossible to view via the iPhones that are undoubtedly the phone of choice for their target market.

A wholesale retreat to its former glory days seems remote, if only because the city government seems hell-bent on running any sort of inexpensive marketplaces out of town in its pursuit of becoming a playground for millionaires. Coming on the heels of an economic downturn, the timing couldn't be worse.

R.I.P, Yashow. We'll always remember your glory days.

Images: Kyle Mullin, Scott Devoy Su