Sete’s Glory and Decay
Set, a former shopping pilgrimage site, will close in another 20 days.
Every old Beijing in the 90’s knew this place called “Site”, and the door plaque on the door was said to have been personally answered by Xu Jinglei. It used to be as famous as Lufthansa and Blue Harbor, just like SKP’s later status, attracting millions of luxury lovers every month.
It appeared in the TV series “I Love My Family”, and Guo Jingming’s novel also specifically mentioned its glorious moment. Even after “Heron Hammer” Lang Hei became famous, he would go to Sete.
But time has gradually filled the intersection to Sete, and the glory of the past is hidden in the shadow of the newcomers.
On March 10th, only the North Gate population opened to enter Sete. There was no vocal and luxury pearls. The whole hall looked dim and depressed. It used to display brands such as coach, Chanel, Rolex, Montblanc, etc. The containers are empty.
The other half of the lobby still has lights on, guiding the way to the supermarket on the ground floor. Entering the supermarket, there are not many customers, and the fresh shelves are half empty. The dates on the outer packaging of some imported goods show that they are near the end of the shelf life-just like the old Set, this is the last time of this high-end mall.
At 18:00 on March 31, the last supermarket will also stop operating. After that, Scitech will carry out a comprehensive upgrade and transformation. Scitech Group has signed a contract with Country Garden Business and Tourism Group. Scitech will be transformed into “Scitech City”, which is still positioned as a high-end, but more “artistic”.
But people in the industry are not optimistic, because the four major shopping malls of Chang’an Street (Guiyou, Set, Parkson, and Changan) have been closed and renovated one after another. Only by changing their uses, Parkson and Guiyou became office buildings.
1 Sete’s highlight moments
Beijing in the 1990s, no one didn’t know the Sete Shopping Center.
In 1992, in 4 and a half months, Beijing built 6 overpasses and 7 overpasses, and the Second Ring Road has now been fully connected. Everything is booming.
On the edge of East Second Ring Road, a 12,000 square-meter shopping mall has been completed. It has a “foreign name”-Sete, but in the mouth of Beijingers, it became “Sete”.
Near the embassy district, Sete was positioned at the high end from the beginning. Most of its products are foreign imports and luxury goods. Its momentum soon surpassed the earliest foreign-related stores, Friendship Shopping Center, and raised the generation outside Jianguomen into Beijing’s most fashionable, The most fashionable place.
Three days before the opening, more than 100,000 people poured into Sete Shopping Center (the population of Beijing was 11.02 million), and even the square in front of the gate was full of people. Some people came to buy things, and some people just came to “watch the lively “.
The hot scene on the opening day of Sete Shopping Center in 1992
In 1992, the average social wage in China was 240 yuan, and Sete’s containers were filled with a variety of brand-name products at amazing prices, 155,000 Rolex watches, 7900 yuan Montblanc fountain pens, and tablecloths priced at 1.05 million yuan.
An old employee of New Oriental recalled that Yu Minhong, a successful entrepreneur in 1993, went shopping at Sete and gained insight as an accompany. Yu Minhong bought a very expensive rice cooker. He was embarrassed and lost his face with empty hands, and finally gritted his teeth and bought a watercolor pen.
In the 1993 sitcom “I Love My Family”, Heping visited “Lufthansa Island, Sete Changan …” in one day for the prized sale of “Emery Card” toilet paper. In addition, the crew gave Guan Ling the last Children’s Day, and Song Dandan went to Sete to buy a bunch of gifts. It is said that Guan Ling has left it to his children.
In Guo Jingming’s “How Much Do I Know in My Dreams”, the Saiter Shopping Center was also mentioned: “Go to Saiter or Lufthansa for a plate of thousands of dollars …”
Many celebrities have also come to Sete for shopping. Liu Bei, Lu Liping, Zhang Mi, Lang Ping … They usually ‘blooded’ at Sete Shopping Center, and then went directly to the nearby club for fitness and entertainment. “
Former British Prime Minister Thatcher visits Sete
In that year, Sete was at the forefront of the country in terms of both building decoration and shopping mall support. It has created a number of “most”: it has the most escalators, the highest educational level of employees, the largest indoor TV screen, the highest proportion of imported goods, and the first to use a computer network to collect cash.
In terms of marketing, Sete also went