Maggie at the Mall

“There is only one boss: the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." -- Sam Walton, American businessman

For some reason, one that continues to elude us, whenever we’re in Shanghai, the weather is miserable. Rain, clouds, smog, damp or cold, Shanghai has seldom been a place over the years that inspires good memories of wandering around town enjoying the sights in beautiful bright sunshine. (That being said, we’ve shot some incredibly beautiful Shanghai scenery, which does, indeed, deserve its “day in the sun” – but, unfortunately, not today!)

Today, like most of our Shanghai days, is rainy and demands finding something to do inside – not too hard to do in the Land of Retail Therapy! Maggie and I headed to the Mall! And not just any mall, one of the luxury malls on W. Nanjing Road, the busy avenue of high-end retail and luxury commerce that runs through central Puxi in old Shanghai. Engineered to impress even from the first steps through the entrance, this mall is typical of many malls in Chinese cities, although this one appropriately reflects the high-rent real estate it occupies.

This impressive retail structure houses one high-level designer boutique after another, each one setting up shop on top of the other, until even the prospect of “window shopping” becomes a dizzying proposition. The construction and design is engineered to impress and amaze, top-flight eye-candy that’s meant to draw the shopper in, enticing consumers with promises of Western luxury goods. The shops are small but powerful in their sophisticated inventory and visual displays.

Maggie and I headed up to the third floor looking for sun block at Mannings drug store. I wish I could have captured her expression as she gazed at this mecca of retail consumerism – I know she had to be astounded at the sheer immensity of the place. Six floors soaring above a central atrium with several levels of retail and parking below ground. This isn’t your average sprawling American mall with its family friendly anchor stores strategically placed among the teenage “hot shops,” movie theatres and requisite food courts. This isn’t even something you’d find in the biggest American cities – NYC has nothing that can touch this mall! Looking out over the vastness, it would seem there’s nothing – in the whole wide world – that couldn’t be found here!

Of course, as any Shanghai fashionista worth her salt will tell you, the truly haute couture designers would never dream of showcasing their labels in a mall of this caliber. Instead, they occupy even more high-rent retail spaces in the most posh sections of the city, sometimes being housed in their own buildings (like the enormously popular Louis Vuitton store just down the road from here) or occupying retail space on the ground floor of impressive office buildings, their brands showcased in the enormous windows lining the wide Paris-like sidewalks. Much like Fifth Avenue in New York, W. Nanjing Road is where the top designers continuously vie for prime retail space and location.

Although China is slowly entering the high-end fashion world with home-grown haute couture designers, the country is still noticeably lagging behind in the creation and manufacture of their own luxury goods. Given the steep rise in the demand for such items that has accompanied the rapid growth of their economy, it’s no surprise that, at least for the moment, the drive to acquire Western labels (i.e., designer and branded goods) has fueled the creation of malls like this with their promise of everything luxury – more importantly, many things “Western.”

The desire to show self-worth through outward appearance is a blog for another day, but suffice to say it has taken on a life of it’s own in China and appears to be the underlying motivation for what drives consumerism on all levels. For today, Maggie and I will stick with our sunblock purchase, and I’ll forever keep my mental picture of today’s errands in Shanghai with Maggie at the Mall!