Along Women's Street on Wulin Road, 1,650 meters long, trees are decorated with festive red lanterns and small shops advertise Spring Festival promotions.

This is one of the most famous commercial characteristic street in Hangzhou. Small shops are scattered like stars. Behind the shop is mass entrepreneurship. The development of small stores can insight into the vitality of urban economy.

What happened to the store?  The reporter came to  Woman's street on Wulin road for interview. In the stories and feelings of small shop operators and consumers, the reporter can feel the vitality and confidence of rising.

New growth: phenomenon of cloesd shop  disappeared

Walking again in this nationally famous street located in the Wulin business district, you can not only experience the long-lost excitement, but also see the new growth.

A new cluster of art shops, shopping shops, fashion shops, pet shops, one after another emerge, refreshing the Wulin Road.

The impact of the epidemic, coupled with the rise of online shopping, has made many people feel that offline stores are no longer a good choice to start a business. However, there are also many people, with confidence and expectations to settle down in Wulin Road.

"The epidemic control policy has been adjusted, popularity has returned, and I can open my first store." said Li Yuting, an Post-90s generation entrepreneur. At the end of last year, he opened a new shop, “Meow-Woo”, at the intersection of Wulin Road. In his eyes, as long as the right location, keep up with young people's preferences, offline stores can live well.

Enter this bright yellow fashion store, everywhere is filled with a sense of fashion and youth: here you can pet cats, you can buy original fashion clothes, you can also buy a sense of design jewelry, all kinds of fashion dolls. "Anyway, whatever I like, whatever I'm good at, I put in the shop. I believe young people will like it too. "Said Xiao Li, who has 11 years of experience as a fashion designer and a wealth experience of pet rearing.

A steady stream of fashionably dressed young people came and went during the reporter's half-hour stay. Chen Yucheng, a girl born after 1995 who came to Hangzhou from Shenzhen, exchanged her understanding of jewelry, clothing and fashion with Li Yuting with great interest while shopping.

"The first time I came to Wulin Road, I was attracted to it. It's so 'attractive.'" Ms. Chen said many young people, including her, would even travel to a city for a store, as long as it was distinctive.

"Wulin Road's younger and more fashionable positioning and the introduction of new business forms are also boosting confidence in the prosperity of the store." Wulin Road business community Party secretary Wang Yanmin said.

From the more fashionable street view, to the fashionable performing arts elements in the Wulin night market, to the introduction of the first fashion store, Wulin Road follows the new consumption trend and creates a new soil for the prosperity of various small stores.

According to the statistics of Gongshu District Market Supervision Bureau, since the second half of last year, a total of 9 enterprises and 54 individual businesses have been set up in Wulin Road, involving catering, retail, life services, sports and entertainment. Wang Yanmin said that there are more than 600 shops in the whole street at present, and the phenomenon of closed shops during the epidemic has disappeared, except for the owners who actively adjust the business format.

New Developments: 'This year should be fine'

Business really prosperous up, shop owners have confidence in the heart, entrepreneurs also have a better vision.

"Look at the popularity of the road! I think, this year should be fine!" "Mr. Tsai said confidently, with a thick Fujian accent.

Fifteen years ago, Cai Yiting came to Hangzhou from Xiamen. He set his eyes on Longyou Road, the most popular branch of Wulin Road, and opened a small shop with oyster omelettes.

Cai's shop is small and can only accommodate two people working at the same time. On the stovetop, rows of A popular snack, octopus balls, a popular snake, sizzle in a specially made pot, emitting an attractive aroma. Cai Yiting happily with long tongs to keep turning the pot of balls, accurately judge the heat.

Cai's confidence comes from his confidence in his craft and his continued optimism about the development of Wulin Road. Since the Spring Festival, Cai Yiting has been able to sell 100 octopus balls a day, twice as much as during the epidemic and about 80% before the epidemic.

Even if Cai is just the most ordinary small shop entrepreneur on the Wulin Road, he also firmly told the reporter that what he has lost in the past three years will surely be made up again.

Data can support Cai's judgment on the popularity: According to the district statistics, since the Spring Festival, the average daily flow of people on Wulin Road has been around 70,000 to 80,000, which is a great increase compared with the daily flow of 30,000 to 40,000 before the optimization of epidemic prevention and control measures.

After the optimization of epidemic prevention and control measures, Gongshu district has been doing everything possible to attract people to Wulin Road. Although the weather is still cold, the night market on Longyou Road can't wait to resume. In the afternoon, a group of workers were already preparing for the night market.

The number of people wanting to set up shop on Wulin Road has increased again. At the end of last year, a new Misue Ice City chain store opened on Wulin Road, just one shop away from the first one opened in the first half of last year.

The reporter met Mr. Li husband and wife, they specially from Qinghai to Wulin road investigation, want to open a restaurant.

The reporter met Mr. Li husband and wife. They want to open a restaurant, and specifically came from Qinghai to investigate Wulin Road.

"During the three years of the epidemic, our stores in the north have been intermittent. Now, we have finally made up our mind to reopen the store, and we want to choose Hangzhou and Wulin Road." Mr. Li said that although the rent is a little high, the popularity and consumption capacity here are high. He hopes to find the right store to start again.

New idea: "Improving the Economy Can't be just enthusiasm"

"To improve the economy, we need not only enthusiasm and confidence, but also new ideas and new approaches." "Bari" women's shop owner Gao Avang told reporters. She has been running a shop on Wulin Road for more than 20 years. Dressed in the latest fashion, she is asking the staff to shoot short videos to send to regular customers.

Although it is a small shop, Gao Yafang is also very focused on learning and wants to keep up with market trends. "Wu Xiaobo mentioned in his New Year's speech last year that Chinese enterprises should master three magic weapons, one of which is' focus on aesthetics'. As a women's clothing store, aesthetics must be improved with The Times, so as to seize the opportunity after the epidemic." Gao Yafang said.

This year, Gao Yafang plans to retrain the employees' "fashion matching ability" and "user communication skills", and plans to open a video number of the store on the social platform to try to marketing through the social media.

"In the past three years, because of the epidemic, it has been difficult for everyone. Now, the opportunity has come back. In addition to preparing ourselves, we also hope that the recovery and prosperity of consumption will be more stable." She also hopes that Wulin Road can drink afternoon tea and hold some fashion activities, so that more consumers will love shopping and Wulin Road.

In fact, Gongshu District is planning a series of measures to boost the characteristic street consumption. On the morning of the interview, Wulin Street, where the block is located, was studying the possibility of encouraging small shops to operate on pedestrian streets, so that popularity could translate into sales of small shops. On February 4, the "Jinbo Fair", sponsored by Gongshu District People's Government and jointly organized by several units, will be held in Wulin Road, so that tourists can buy things from all over the world and eat food from all over the world.

Wang Yanmin is a government worker who directly serves the main body of the characteristic street market. She has the most experience of these measures. From the busy implementation of the measures proposed by the city and district to boost Wulin Road, to the rush to solve the problem of insufficient power capacity for newly opened stores... Compared with last year, her workload is increasing geometrically.

"This kind of busyness makes everyone full of hope. The spring of the store is coming again," said Wang Yanmin.

Translator: Liao Yiyi (intern)

Editor:Ye Ke, Liao Yiyi (intern)