A Shuttering Halt: Tianhe Baima Market to Close Next Week
Beijing's Xicheng District will bid farewell to one of its last wholesale markets when Tianhe Baima permanently shuts down on Nov 13.
After
facing imminent closure for over a year, the women's clothing outlet
was finally given official notice last week on Nov 1, leaving little
time for remaining shopkeepers to conduct clearance sales.
Out of the twelve wholesale markets that have sprouted up around the Beijing Zoo area, the only ones remaining are Tianhe Baima and Dingdong Market, which will also face end-of-year closing procedures of its own.
Beijing Youth Report quoted an unnamed Xicheng official as saying the space left over from the closed wholesale markets will be rezoned for "science and technology, finance, and environmental services" that are more in keeping with efforts to modernize Beijing.
Unlike
other recently shuttered wholesale markets that have served their
communities for years, Tianhe Baima was a recent arrival in Beijing,
having just opened 40,000 square meters of retail space in March 2013.
In
a coordinated effort with other wholesale markets, Tianhe Baima
attempted to rebrand itself as an upscale retail outlet in 2015, a
courageous act that local media immediately saw as futile.
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In
light of so many wholesale markets getting shut down this year, more
than half of Tianhe Baima's 1,039 shops had already decided to close by
this past April amid allegations of being unfairly compensated.
As
in the case of other shuttered markets, many of the 3,000 ousted
shopkeepers have taken to selling online as a way to keep in contact
with their Beijing-based customers.
Last month saw the closure of Ladies' Street Market, joining the likes of Wantong Market, Beijing Zoo Market, Alien Street Market, and Tianyi Market.
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An
ongoing urban rejuvenation campaign has seen Beijing clamp down on its
non-local residents by shutting down wholesale markets while also
relocating non-essential services to its suburbs.
As plans to
create a future megacity continue to move forward, Beijing intends to
reduce its population by as much as 15 percent before 2020.
Images: Weibo.com
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