In September, the last large shopping center of the Japanese retail giant AEON Group in Beijing, “AEON Dreamland Beijing Fengtai Shopping Center,” formally ended its operation. This not only marked the closure of a commercial brand but also took away a collective memory of consumption and life for a generation. Recently, a Beijing blogger visited this soon-to-close mall and documented its last moments of emptiness during the prime time.
On the evening of September 6th (Saturday), which is usually the bustling prime time for commercial areas, the AEON Dreamland in front of the blogger “Uneasy Cola Cake” seemed unusually deserted. The footage showed that the café near the mall entrance had closed, the interior was sparsely populated, and many shops had already been cleared out.
Through his lens, it was observed that a café near the entrance of the mall had already closed. Upon entering the mall, he remarked that on a weekend evening, there were hardly any people around. The blogger noted that many well-known Japanese brands that were once part of AEON, such as Ito-Yokado and The Green Party, had chosen to leave. This indicates a strong dependence relationship between businesses and anchor stores (like AEON). The departure of the anchor store not only took away foot traffic but also altered the original commercial ecosystem.
Ito-Yokado is a Japanese chain enterprise with multiple branches in mainland China.
“Uneasy Cola Cake” mentioned that Ito-Yokado had a large footprint within the AEON mall. It may exit the Chinese market as many of its stores on the mainland have already closed.
In early August, the “AEON Dreamland Beijing Fengtai Shopping Center” announced that it would officially cease operations on September 30th of this year. Starting from October, the shopping center will be taken over by a new operator and renamed as Xinjiahui Shopping Center.
The “AEON Dreamland Beijing Fengtai Shopping Center” is the last shopping center of AEON Group in Beijing. Chinese media reported that its departure took away a collective memory of consumption and life for a generation in Beijing. With AEON’s withdrawal from operations, there will be no more AEON projects in Beijing, marking the end of a commercial brand in the city.
“Uneasy Cola Cake” mentioned that even though he visited the AEON mall during prime time, it was sparsely populated. He initially thought that the businesses within the mall would stay and sign new contracts with the company taking over from AEON Group, but in reality, many shop spaces had already been vacated.
“I originally thought that most businesses would stay and sign with the new management company,” he sighed, “but now it seems that most have closed down.” He believed that this signals a significant challenge for the new operator, Xinjiahui Shopping Center, in attracting businesses and making profits in the current economic climate.
He stated that the strength of AEON Group could ensure businesses stay within the mall. It will be very difficult for the new operator to attract businesses and make profits. Therefore, the departure of foreign enterprises poses a challenge rather than an opportunity for future enterprises.
Wherever his lens turned, many shops were found closed. He proceeded to the top floor of the mall, the area where restaurants gather. Despite being a Saturday evening dinner time, there were not many people dining on the entire top floor.
“The commercial area on the top floor of the mall was in this state at 7:42 PM on a golden Saturday evening,” he expressed, suggesting that this situation might be prevalent in many malls across Beijing. He remarked that attracting businesses for Xinjiahui Shopping Center will be a challenging journey.
The blogger also compared the “withdrawal notice” of AEON Group with the “takeover declaration” of domestic companies, feeling that the announcement by Japanese companies was more honest and comfortable, while domestic companies tended to overly romanticize by claiming “continuing operations,” yet many shops ended up closing down.
Exiting the AEON mall, “Uneasy Cola Cake” observed the surroundings and described it as “empty.” “Most businesses that could leave have already left.”
Why did this situation occur? The blogger believed that the mall’s downturn and the decline in purchasing power of nearby residents were related to the decline of the Fengtai Institute of Science nearby.
He explained that before 2020, employees of the Fengtai Institute of Science were the main force renting houses near the AEON mall, with stable income and strong purchasing power. The landlords who owned properties near the mall were fully aware of this. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was relatively easy to rent out properties near the mall, and the rent was high. However, post-pandemic, the houses near the mall that were originally rented out to Fengtai Institute of Science employees became difficult to rent out, and the rent decreased significantly.
As a Japanese-funded enterprise, AEON China opened its first comprehensive department store Jusco (formerly known as AEON) in Guangzhou Tianhe City in 1996, marking the beginning of its expansion into the Chinese market. In the Chinese market, AEON primarily expanded through three models: GMS (comprehensive supermarket), SM (food supermarket), and shopping centers, with the latter being Dreamland.
AEON supermarkets gradually expanded across the country, covering regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Jiangsu Province, Hubei Province, Zhejiang Province, and Guangdong Province.
Since 2017, the proportion of comprehensive supermarkets in the new AEON stores in mainland China has been decreasing year by year, with the domestic business facing losses for eight consecutive years. In recent years, news of AEON supermarkets closing down has been continuous.
The AEON supermarket in Fengtai AEON Dreamland officially ceased operations on May 16th this year.
AEON supermarkets once had two stores in Beijing, in Chaoyang Joy City and Changping AEON International Mall, both of which closed in October 2022 and May 2023, respectively.
In addition to the closure of stores in the Beijing market, AEON supermarkets in Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shenzhen, and other places have also successively closed down. In February of this year, the AEON supermarket in Shenzhen Bao’an Central Store announced its closure, bidding farewell to local consumers after 13 years of operation, leaving only two AEON stores in Shenzhen; the AEON supermarket Kaidewest Store in Wuhan officially closed on August 20th, 2024.
According to AEON’s 2024 performance report, the company’s revenue in 2024 was 8.095 billion Hong Kong dollars, slightly lower than the 8.693 billion Hong Kong dollars in 2023; the net profit attributable to the parent company was a loss of approximately 341 million Hong Kong dollars. From 2017 to the first half of 2024, AEON’s mainland business has accumulated losses exceeding 737 million Hong Kong dollars.