Shanghai No. 1 Department Store To Reopen Next Month

The renovation is aimed at helping the store compete in the age of online retail.

The main phase of the remodeling of the landmark Shanghai No.1 Department Store on the city’s famous shopping street, East Nanjing Road, is to complete on December 8th, according to Chapman Taylor.  The company was selected to design this significant Shanghai retail redevelopment after winning a design competition.



Shanghai No. 1 Department Store, once the biggest in the Far East, was opened in 1934, and the renovation scheme is designed to reimagine the store while restoring it to its former glory. The old department store and two neighboring buildings will total 110,000m² in retail space, covering the department store renovation, exciting atrium spaces and a Shanghai Alley-themed level.  

The old No.1 Department Store building is being reconfigured to revive the original interior and allow for unlimited views of the coffered ceiling and reinstated column capitals – with the mix of tenants on each level being carefully chosen to set the accurate tone for the target market.

The newer, adjacent, No.1 Department Store building (2006) will be made up of two key themes. The Art Deco-themed Grand Theatre will consist of high-end outlets with mall-type shopfronts, open fronts and a massive promotional space. The Phoenix Tree sits on the upper levels and will be relaxing shopping environment suggestive of the tree-lined streets of the French Concession era, with open shopfronts following an atrium which also allows for a sizeable promotional space.

Certain two buildings are on course to be completed by next month.

The final phase of the renovation upgrades the nine-story former Oriental Shopping Centre, originally built in 1996. Sitting opposite the pedestrian street from the No.1 Building. This part of the complex includes fully open shopfronts and open retail space using contemporary designs and vibrant displays, with the purpose of attracting a younger demographic. It will be linked by sky-bridges on three levels to the old No.1 Department Store Building. The phase will be completed in time for the Chinese New Year (February 2018).

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