Liu Minxia

    mllmx@msn.com

    LINES were formed at every gate of the largest mall in Futian District’s Meilin area before it opened Friday morning, and crowds started to pour in as soon as it opened with 185 brands operating in it.

    On the first day of its operation, the eight-story INJOY Mall, developed by Shenzhen’s Excellence Group, received more than 200,000 visitors, which, industry insiders say, is rare as the retail sector has been under the pressure of an economic slowdown as well as an e-commerce boom.

    Located in an emerging business district in the Shangmeilin area of northern Futian, the mall is fully occupied with businesses including H&M, Uniqlo, Orange Sky Golden Harvest Cinemas, and Starbucks. Among them, more than 160 brands are opening shops in the Meilin area for the first time.

    In line with a growing trend among Shenzhen malls, large spaces are devoted to multipurpose and kids areas.

    The 100,000-square-meter mall houses more than 60 bars and restaurants, featuring various cuisines, and nearly 20 kids brands, ranging from amusement areas to training centers.

    “We sacrificed rental income to leave more space for kids and we hope the area, along with the restaurants, will help retain customer loyalty,” said Pang Chundong, general manager of the INJOY project.

    A previous survey found that the area within 3 kilometers of the INJOY Mall receives 1 million visitors every day, including 400,000 residents, 100,000 office workers and 500,000 visitors brought by nearby Metro lines.

    “It’s rare for a new shopping center in Shenzhen to open with such a high rate of occupancy and receive such large foot traffic from the beginning,” said Hua Tao, head of Shenzhen Retail Business Association. “I haven’t seen this here in years. Some say it’s thanks to the brand power of its developer while others say it’s because of its good location. I would attribute the success to the hard work of the team, which gave tenants confidence.”

    “We see the determination of Excellence Group to build the INJOY brand,” said Zhao Haijun, senior vice president of Orange Sky Golden Harvest Cinemas, which runs a IMAX cinema in INJOY. “They invested heavily and are very confident in it. That’s why we chose to establish an outlet there to better serve our customers.”

    INJOY is the second commercial property brand Excellence has developed after INTOWN, which has a location in the Futian CBD area. On Friday afternoon, another INTOWN project opened for business in Shenzhen’s Houhai area.

    INJOY was founded in Shenzhen in 2013. It has locations in Qingdao, Shandong, and in Shanghai. An INJOY is also being built in Guangzhou.

    Excellence Group, which ranks 48th among property developers in China according to research firm China Real Estate Information Corp., is the dominant commercial developer in the Futian CBD. The group paid 12.37 billion yuan (US$2 billion) for two commercial sites in Qianhai in 2013 in the economic zone’s first land auction.

    The Futian District Government said it will expand its central business district to encourage further development, with Meilin designated as an area for e-commerce. Meilin may become the next business center in Futian.

    Meilin plans to develop 25 commercial sites with a total area of more than 2 million square meters, almost half the size of Futian’s CBD.

    At the intersection of Metro lines 4 and 9, INJOY Mall will be the fifth shopping center in Futian. The other four, all located in the Futian CBD area, are very close to each other. Industry insiders have complained that Futian doesn’t have a landmark shopping mall like The MixC even though it replaced Luohu as the city center more than 10 years ago.