New lease of life.

Embracing a wholly consumer approach, it's brought in an anchor store, Jusco, to occupy an area of over 20,000 sqm, about a third of the mall's total floor space.

Management will also bring in Uniqlo and other Japanese fashion brands to project a "non-mall" image. Jusco opened for business during the National Day holidays. Earlier rumours about Jusco pulling out of China Plaza were confirmed.

Lam Wei Chi, a senior commercial property expert from Hong Kong, has many years of experience dealing in shops in the station underground mall and used to hold senior investment promotion and management positions; he's been instrumental in the mall's regeneration.

China's fire service regulations require underground malls to have a fire installation at intervals of 20,000 sqm. For a mall with a total area of more than 60,000 sqm, it was a big challenge trying to meet safety requirements without obstructing customer flow.

Managers came up with the idea of building an atrium to meet fire approval procedures.

Lam said underground shopping centres are difficult to handle where it comes to laying out facilities; dealing in commercial property requires commercial acumen. He stressed that it takes time to build up a customer base from scratch.

The East Railway Station underground mall had changed its mode of operation many times since 1998 and has so not managed to establish a successful business model. Lam is convinced that the new lineup of Japanese stores will work.

Indeed, Jusco is doing a thriving business in all of its Guangzhou branches. Lam expected that East Railway Station had an excellent opportunity to develop, particularly since Centre Plaza, Jianguo Hotel, IKEA, Westin Hotel and China Shine Plaza are in the neighbourhood.

Luo Siyuan, Director for Commercial Property with Hong Kong's Centaline Property Agency Ltd, knows Jusco's standards for site selection and believed the current opportunity would work out.

The fact that Popark Plaza managed to win the Jusco contract showed that it must have adjusted its hardware to meet Jusco's requirements. It also demonstrated that Popark Plaza has an eye for the future and hoped to enliven the mall.

In Luo's opinion, Jusco has a good track record in Guangzhou and its Tianhe City and China Plaza stores have both been successful.

The commercial property sector is well aware of the role of the Jusco brand name in promoting property sales and rentals. Jusco combines a department store with a supermarket and so has an advantage over competitors.

By contrast, Guangzhou Department Store and Friendship Department Store both offer luxury goods and so must open their stores in central commercial districts. Jusco mainly serves local communities and doesn't necessarily have to choose central locations.

East Railway Station is surrounded by the Tianhe North commercial district and several upmarket residential developments. It's also an area with a large Japanese population and residents with high disposable incomes.

from Dionne Liu, Guangzhou Office

(Image courtesy of Xinhua News Agency)