The wave of closures in physical retail industry in mainland China continues to spread. The Beijing Xinxiangmen store of the Malaysian department store chain, Parkson Group, recently announced that it will close on December 31st this year. This is the first store of Parkson Group in mainland China and also its last store in Beijing. Residents of Beijing expressed regret over the news of the closure. Similarly, the well-known Taiwanese restaurant chain, Din Tai Fung, has also been closing stores in recent years, and its WeChat store will cease operations at the end of next month.
On October 10th, Parkson in Beijing issued an announcement stating that the Xinxiangmen store in Beijing will be closed on December 31, 2025.
The Parkson store at Xinxiangmen in Beijing opened in March 1994 with a floor area of approximately 15,000 square meters. Initially positioned as a mid- to high-end department store, it quickly became a commercial landmark in Beijing. Starting from this store, Parkson Group rapidly expanded throughout China, setting up 43 diversified and multi-format stores in 25 cities.
Regarding the reason for the closure of the Xinxiangmen store in Beijing, the company explained that Parkson Group is actively and comprehensively promoting a strategic transformation. Faced with store locations that are restricted by objective conditions and difficult to achieve balanced development in complex demands, after careful evaluation, they had to make a difficult but necessary decision.
Parkson was one of the first foreign fashion department store chains to operate in China and is also one of the largest fashion department store groups in China. However, in recent years, the group has faced a sluggish market. In August of this year, Parkson announced its mid-year performance, reporting total sales revenue of 4.1553 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11.5%. The group stated that external uncertainties aggravated, weak income growth expectations, and other factors collectively affected the spending behavior of consumers, making them more cautious.
Many people in Beijing expressed regret on social media over the impending closure of Parkson’s Xinxiangmen store. Some netizens believe that traditional physical shopping malls are almost reaching the end of the road.
Also announced to cease operations on October 10th was the well-known Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fung.
The Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fung announced that due to brand operation adjustments, its WeChat store will officially cease operations on November 30th, with only one type of sesame pancake remaining for sale, while all other products are listed as sold out.
In recent years, the physical retail industry in mainland China has been continuously sluggish, leading to the closure of more than a dozen stores of Din Tai Fung.