Results tagged “shopping”

Oh thank goodness! We nearly had a heart attack this morning when we read this chilling article (maybe just chilling to all of us who enjoy comparably cheap imported French cheeses) in the Economist noting that two big shareholders were reportedly pushing Carrefour to sell off its China and Brazil businesses. At least according to the company, it's not true.

American streetwear label Stüssy, famous for its "fresh gear" hip hop-inspired looks, opened their first Chinese flagship store recently on Shaanxi Nan Lu, near Changle Lu. The place is so new that its location has yet to be added to the Stüssy website.

       

Tucked away behind a steel gate on Shan Xi Nan Lu near Julu Lu is a charming little shop specializing in goods for the type of man who'd go to a magazine rack, pass by the FHM and pick up a Complex instead.

We finally went to have a look at the Barbie flagship megastore on Huaihai Road over the weekend in an attempt to sidestep the first week rush. What stood out to us most: This rather... suggestive... escalator. We hardly knew where we would end up if we entered.

Nancy Sinatra had no idea.....her boots may have been made for walking, but with the rains never ceasing in Shanghai, boots made for walking just ain't cutting it. We need boots made for sloshing...rubber rain boots. Sleek and sexy ones. Ones that you can wear for both home and office. Well, depending on your office dress codes.

Sometimes your new electronic gadget isn't as new as you'd think it would be. One patron of the Carrefour in Jinqiao got a bit of a shock when he opened his “brand new” camcorder and found over 30 minutes of the Jinqiao Carrefour staff's Spring Festival Christmas party on it. Source:Jonathan Chambers

Not sure how long this clothing store has been in existence on the northwest corner of Shaanxi Nan Lu and Changle Lu, but we just noticed it on Sunday. The Chinese characters on the sign — 兴昌祥服饰 — means "auspicious, prospering and flourishing clothing." Mr. Deniro's entry into the Shanghai market is further proof of what Shanghaiist has been writing about the actor ever since his 1965 debut: He's been riding Liv Tyler's coattails his entire career.

Forget coming to Shanghai to pick up a cheap knock-off handbag, the latest fashion is for middle-class Chinese to head to the UK to pick up the real thing at knock-down prices.

• Shanghai is the most popular destination for Chinese students returning from abroad. According to the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, 75,000 returnees have chosen to be in Shanghai, and the city also boasts about 4,000 enterprises founded by returnees.
• According to latest statistics released by the municipal government, Shanghai received a whopping 1.57 million tourists in the first three days of the Chinese New Year.
• Japan's NTT Communications will launch a data centre in Shanghai together with China Telecom to provide international wide-area ethernet service.

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).

Less than three months after the much-touted launch of its four-level store in Shanghai, Marks and Spencer has sacked Richard Sweet, its top man in China. According to Malcolm Moore of the Daily Telegraph, even twenty years of experience opening stores in India, Russia and the Middle East did not prepare him for China -- much of his stock were impounded at Shanghai customs and as a result, rows and rows of shelves were left bare during the opening. Apparently, the 40,000 sq ft store was also deserted during the Christmas season. A quick check by Shanghaiist last Friday evening found the store similarly devoid of shoppers, in spite of an ongoing Spring Festival sale which sees items going for as much as 50% off.

We folks in Pudong are very excited about the long-overdue Japanese supermarket that recently opened in the basement of Yaohan, or more widely known as Babaiban (八佰伴).

French retailer Auchan hypermart, perhaps worried about the rising anti-French fury among the Chinese public and the calls for boycotts against French businesses and products resulting from President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama, did something it knew would tug at the heartstrings and the pursestrings of the people of Shanghai — it called for a sale. The two-hour sale on Tuesday night at Auchan's Changyang outlet in Yangpu District was so successful that a stampede nearly broke out. Shanghai Daily adds:

At least one shopper fainted and children were left crying in the crush as crowds stormed the shop at 10pm trying to find the discounted specials. "I was shopping about 9:30pm and was astonished to find people rushing to the store late at night," said a customer surnamed Cheng.

Continue reading "Boycott? What boycott? Auchan sale brings in crowds and chaos"

A random internet search brought us to this kinda cool poster from artist Steve Thomas. It's a retro-futuristic advert for the World's Fair in 2474 (we guess) that celebrates Shanghai's "Five Centuries of Progress." We suppose that means the 2010 thingy we're hosting goes OK. Ironically, the Pudong skyline used to represent the future in the poster is already the old Pudong skyline. The best part: Entry to the World's Fair is only four credits. And children get in for a half credit! We can't wait until 2474.

If you're wondering where to go on your next shopping trip, look no further. Wen'an Jie in Nanjing houses all your favourite brands and promises to make any jaded Shanghai shopper come alive again. Our favourite one in there has gotta be "Pizza Huh".

Nope, it's not Shanghai Baby, now it's Shanghai Barbie. The massive 3400-square-meter flagship shop at 550 Huai Hai Lu is set to open soon. The tagline: "We Believe in Girls' Dreams" is perhaps the most disturbing aspect. How does Barbie appeal to a Shanghainese girl's dreams? The wish to have blond hair and a boob job?

SH Mag reports: "The clothes are still made in LA, and so are the wages – staff here receive above the US minimum. ... Small, but packed full of sweatshop-free goodness." And the prices? "Fine jersey T-shirt (¥188); plain tank vest (¥154); knee-high tube socks (¥102); solid rib mod dress (¥307); lamé late night mini skirt (¥328); unisex striped zip hoody (¥461); nylon taffeta jacket (¥553)." We're curious to see how this location performs. Nice looking building, but does anyone actually go there? (Honest question — we've never been.)

The newly launched Marks and Spencers on Nanjing Xi Lu is off to a rather inauspicious start — barely a few days after Shanghai shoppers went on a rampage at the store, an Indian national has fallen to his death Sunday evening. Xinhua has more:

The accident occurred at around 9:30 p.m. when Shah Harshit, 24,fell from an escalator on the fourth floor of the store in Nanjing West Road, a Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau official said.

Continue reading "Indian national falls to his death at Marks and Spencers Shanghai"

Photo from Julien & Gwladys

Check out John Pasden's helpful tips here (and be jealous that your company doesn't subsidize the purchasing of cool smuggled gadgets).

From Beijing-based techie Frank Yu: "iPhones for sale in Beijing. 1st Gen 8 gig iPhone USD 735. 2nd Gen 8 gig 3G iPhone USD 1,176. The Older iPhones rose almost 42% since 3G." [Source]

According to a report released by China Internet Network Information Center, online shopping expenditures in the first half of 2008 total 16.2 billion RMB, with Shanghai leading the way in per capita consumption. Looks like China's netizens are doing more than just stirring up trouble.

"'As soon as we get it from Hong Kong and bring it over and unlock it.' ... Asked about claims that the new iPhones could not be hacked, he replied: 'The Chinese are very quick at unlocking iPhones. They used to say that the PSP couldn't be hacked as well, but we hacked it,' referring to Sony's PlayStation Portable game console." We believe the price they quote for an iPhone — 3,000 kuai — is for the earlier model. Story says new iPhones are going for upwards of US$860 in Thailand and US$600 in Hong Kong, where users must sign a two-year contract. [Source: IHT]

Following the closure of the infamous Xiangyang “fake goods” Market back in 2006, vendors have scattered all over Shanghai such as Qipu Lu but most have congregated in Pudong. The underground market by the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum remains the largest in terms of variety but we’ve found Rongfu Building （融福大厦）along Pudong Nan Lu, to be more convenient.

Amelia of ChinaTravel.net draws our attention to this Beijing Olympic keychain souvenir with a live fish in it:

I found this picture up at the Beijing Olympics Fan blog and was shocked out of my wits!!! Who would ever buy this??? In 4 hours the fish would be dead, how do you explain that to your 6 year old daughter? I saw some guys selling these on the subway recently, they were claiming that the water was treated with food and chemicals that would allow the fish to live for months. BULLCRAP!

“The fish would have little oxygen available and it would be impossible to feed the fish.

Continue reading "Beijing Olympic key chain souvenir cruel to fish?"

- Russell Taylor, Unilever -

It's that time of the year again — temperatures are creeping up, and we spotted our first shirtless market stall holder at the weekend; summer is just around the corner.

Depending on where you read your news, the nation-wide boycott of, and protests against, French supermarket chain Carrefour in China were either a well-attended show of nationalistic pride or were over-shadowed by the bargains on offer inside the stores. Angered by events surrounding the Olympic torch relay in Paris last month and by President Sarkozy declining to rule out a boycott of the games in Beijing in August, the protests had been arranged through on-line forums and text messaging.

In our ongoing quest to keep you updated on the sugar free food and beverage options in Shanghai (and to keep with our tradition of posting stories that are "SOOOO interesting"), we thought we'd mention that locally branded Coca-Cola Zero — a sugar free carbonated beverage that "unlike the sugar-free Diet Coke, is formulated to taste like Coca-Cola," according to Wikipedia — started being available in Shanghai grocery stores and convenience stores sometime last week (we think). Coke Zero, which comes in a black can, made its global debut in 2005, and friends in Beijing said they have had it up there since sometime earlier this year.