---
title: "Hypermarket Model Retreats from First-Tier Cities: Old Neighbors Say They Only Go for Promotions, Community Group Buying Is More Convenient"
description: "Another large supermarket has disappeared in Guangzhou. On February 28, the Carrefour Wanguo store, which had served the Haizhu District community for 20 years, closed due to lease expiration. This follows the closures of Wangfujing, Modeng Department Store's Haigou store, and Walmart's Yunjing store within the past six months."
author: "郭梓昊"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2022-03-05"
language: "en"
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# Hypermarket Model Retreats from First-Tier Cities: Old Neighbors Say They Only Go for Promotions, Community Group Buying Is More Convenient

> Another large supermarket has disappeared in Guangzhou. On February 28, the Carrefour Wanguo store, which had served the Haizhu District community for 20 years, closed due to lease expiration. This follows the closures of Wangfujing, Modeng Department Store's Haigou store, and Walmart's Yunjing store within the past six months.

Another large supermarket has disappeared in Guangzhou.

On February 28, the Carrefour Wanguo store, which had accompanied the residents of Haizhu District for 20 years, closed its doors. In an announcement titled "May you be well, see you elsewhere," the Wanguo store of Guangzhou Carrefour Commercial Co., Ltd. stated that due to the expiration of the lease, the owner's overall business layout no longer plans for a supermarket format, and the premises will be taken back for other uses.

This is another large supermarket to close in Guangzhou within the past six months, following Wangfujing, Modeng Department Store's Haigou store, and Walmart's Yunjing store.

△ Carrefour Plaza Wanguo store in Haizhu District, Guangzhou (Source: VCG)

Affected by the pandemic, online e-commerce, and the expiration of site lease contracts, large supermarkets represented by Carrefour are having a hard time.

**According to the "2021 Supermarket Survey Report" released by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, in 2021, 67.1% of supermarket companies saw a year-on-year decline in sales, 72.2% saw a decline in net profit, and 68.39% saw a decline in customer traffic.**

On February 27, before the closure, a Times Weekly reporter visited the Carrefour Wanguo store. Half of the lights in the mall hall were dimmed, and some shelves were empty; elderly women were "picking up bargains" from the few promotional items, examining them for a long time before putting them back; staff in the deli section were moving out kitchen utensils one by one, with only the durian pancake stall in the distance and the adjacent cold dish shop still operating.

"After shopping at Carrefour for so many years, this is the first time I feel so empty," a passing customer muttered to themselves.

△ Carrefour's shelves have been emptied (Photo by Times Weekly reporter Guo Zihao)

For the nearby residents and Carrefour's merchants, the 20 years of the Carrefour Wanguo store have connected the most simple emotions between people.

And hypermarkets like Carrefour have frequently reported store closures in recent years, which always evokes nostalgia and melancholy for a generation. Because large supermarkets create interactive scenes between people, and the long time span enriches the diversity of these interactions. People come here not only for business but also for relationships.

**Once the "Top Draw" of the Business District**

For the ordinary employees of the Carrefour Wanguo store, the last day of closure was no different from any other day.

At 6 a.m., Aunt Li from the cold dish shop arrived early at the mall to clean, prepare dishes, weigh, mix, and pack. She has been doing this job for 12 years. "When I first came, my daughter was only in first grade of elementary school, and now she has grown into a big girl about to take the college entrance exam."

To give back to the neighbors, Aunt Li offered a clearance price of 13.8 yuan and pre-packaged the cold dishes for easy pickup. "Even if I lose money, I have to do a good job on the last day," Aunt Li said.

As another "internet celebrity" of Carrefour Wanguo, Brother Fei's pancake shop had a long line early in the morning. From 8 a.m., his hands never stopped flipping pancakes. The dough got bigger and bigger, sizzling on the griddle, then topped with banana slices, durian, and other fruit fillings, the aroma spreading.

According to Brother Fei, after the Carrefour Wanguo store opened in 2002, he worked there as a pastry chef for four years, then returned to his hometown for business. In 2009, he came back to Guangzhou and rented a few square meters of space inside the Carrefour Wanguo store to sell pancakes. Thirteen years passed in the blink of an eye.

Neither Aunt Li nor Brother Fei ever imagined that a large supermarket like Carrefour would close. As the first store Carrefour opened in Guangzhou, Carrefour Wanguo was the "top draw" of the nearby business district 20 years ago.

If residents wanted to shop, this was their first choice.

△ People queuing to shop at Carrefour. (Photo by Times Weekly reporter Guo Zihao)

In August 2002, the Carrefour Wanguo store, which had changed its opening date several times, finally opened for business. At that time, across Guangzhou, a 6,000-square-meter, two-story large supermarket was undoubtedly a big deal. Crowds from all directions came to Wanguo Plaza to see Carrefour for themselves. At the entrance, escalators, and checkout counters, people were bustling.

How popular was Carrefour at that time?

"In the first few days of opening, the foot traffic was comparable to the Spring Festival travel rush; we ourselves were squeezed and couldn't move," Brother Fei recalled. At the beginning, Carrefour ran a promotion of one yuan for a fried chicken, and lines formed daily at the manual checkout counters.

"Business was booming, and everyone was motivated." Aunt Li was in charge of the hot dog counter, with a monthly turnover of 210,000 yuan alone. Later, she switched to selling marinated food, with a stable monthly revenue of over 100,000 yuan. Brother Fei's business was also good; a 6.8-yuan durian pancake could sell 300 to 400 a day.

When talking about the history of the Carrefour Wanguo store, Brother Fei often sums it up with the word "glory."

In his impression, Carrefour employees' salaries and benefits were at foreign enterprise standards. "In the first few years after opening, Carrefour organized annual meetings at Nanyuan Restaurant, with a whole table of roast suckling pig." He sighed, "At that time, to work at Carrefour, you either had skills or education."

For Brother Fei, who went from a rural village to the city, Carrefour gave him a place to settle down. In his words, Brother Fei always had a sense of belonging to this supermarket. "Wanguo and Carrefour didn't make me rich, but they gave me a meal."

**"People No Longer Love Shopping at Supermarkets"**

Between 1995 and 2005, foreign hypermarkets entered the Chinese market in a concentrated manner, obtaining many prime locations at low prices of 0.5-1 yuan per square meter per day. Based on the typical 10-20 year lease term for hypermarkets, many old stores' leases are now expiring, including the Carrefour Wanguo store.

Since September last year, rumors of Carrefour negotiating renewal with the property owner circulated among merchants like Aunt Li and Brother Fei. "Although we were mentally prepared, we didn't expect it to be so fast. We were only told about the closure two months ago; everyone was quite stunned," Brother Fei said.

Not just Carrefour, large supermarkets across the country are also facing a wave of closures.

According to incomplete statistics, from 2016 to 2020, over four years, Walmart China closed about 80 stores; in 2021 alone, Walmart China closed a double-digit number of stores, mostly due to "lease expiration."

△ Merchants inside Carrefour. (Photo by Times Weekly reporter Guo Zihao)

Media reports have said that the once cheap prime location rents have generally risen to 3-7 yuan per square meter per day. Just on rent increases alone, a 20,000-square-meter property would see annual rent increase by 5-15 million yuan, making renewal costs high.

Tian Liming, vice president of Maiheda Group, said in a recent interview that ten years ago, it was already difficult to see hypermarkets in Guangzhou's main urban areas. "For example, in Yuexiu District, there hasn't been a hypermarket over 10,000 square meters for ten years."

On the other hand, the pandemic and the development of online e-commerce have changed people's consumption habits, impacting the hypermarket model represented by Carrefour.

Facing the empty shelves, Grandma Wang, who planned to "pick up bargains" on the last day, was disappointed. "Forget it, I'll buy online. I made a wasted trip," Grandma Wang told the Times Weekly reporter. During the pandemic, she learned to buy things online and rarely visited supermarkets since.

This was her first time stepping into Carrefour this year. "I heard it was about to close. I haven't used my Carrefour membership card for a year, so I wanted to spend the balance on the last day."

The aggressive community group buying is also trying to get a piece of the pie. According to Grandma Wang, her residential community has as many as 7 or 8 community group buying stations. "My legs are not good. Unless there's a big promotion and it's cheaper than online, it's not convenient to make a special trip," Grandma Wang said.

With declining customer traffic, the income of staff and stall owners is sharply decreasing. "People no longer love shopping at supermarkets," a stall owner in the deli section told the Times Weekly reporter. His monthly revenue dropped from 60,000-70,000 yuan to 30,000 yuan, nearly halved. "This Spring Festival suddenly had a boom, and everyone was happy, but it turned out to be a 'brief rally.'"

Now, the hypermarket model retreating from first-tier cities is a fact. In March 2019, China Resources Vanguard exited five hypermarket stores in Beijing; in August 2021, Shenzhen's local supermarket giant Renrenle announced the closure of 19 stores in half a year.

As the "cold wave" hits, supermarket giants have to actively seek transformation: RT-Mart, backed by Alibaba, is focusing on community group buying; Yonghui Superstores is transforming into warehouse-style supermarkets; Carrefour plans to expand in first-tier cities nationwide over the next three years, opening 100 paid membership-based supermarkets.

**Farewell to the "Second Canteen"**

As the closure approached, this large supermarket welcomed its admirers.

In a corner of the deli dining area, office worker Xiao Li was eating durian pancakes heartily. He works nearby and used to come almost every day with colleagues before the pandemic. "Carrefour was basically my second canteen. What a pity," Xiao Li sighed.

Carrefour, known for being cheap and affordable, won over a group of office workers. Here, you could buy Liuzhou river snail rice noodles, Chongqing small noodles, Beijing fried sauce noodles, beef offal, pork offal soup, claypot rice... You could fill your stomach for just over ten yuan.

△ Customers dining at Carrefour. (Photo by Times Weekly reporter Guo Zihao)

Losing such a "people's canteen" made the neighbors reluctant to part with it.

On social media, the news of Carrefour's closure spread quickly, evoking memories of the Carrefour Wanguo store among netizens: "Before every spring outing in elementary school, I bought snacks at Carrefour." "There's no such large, affordable supermarket nearby anymore."

Nearby residents came to check in on the last day. "I know this is the last day, so I thought I'd come take some photos. I have to leave something behind," said Wang Sheng (pseudonym), who lives nearby, as he brought his mother along. "Whether we buy anything or not, we're used to strolling around before and after meals."

For Wang Sheng, as a child, he would go to the Carrefour Wanguo store after class to buy a durian pancake. Taking a bite, the aroma filling his mouth was the sweetest joy of his childhood.

"Many kids grew up eating my pancakes, and they would pester their parents to come," Brother Fei said with a laugh.

In 2015, affected by e-commerce, the once booming supermarket business began to decline. Several customers who had grown up eating his pancakes took the initiative to find Brother Fei, writing reviews on Dianping and posting videos online. Unexpectedly, it resonated with people, and the store suddenly became popular.

"They all call me the internet-famous pancake guy," Brother Fei told the Times Weekly reporter. At its peak, there would be hundreds of people queuing in front of the store. "They'd queue for three and a half hours, even four hours. I alone had to make 400 to 500 pancakes a day."

In 2020, affected by the pandemic, the supermarket was almost deserted, and Brother Fei's business plummeted. "The old neighbors saw my poor business and were afraid I'd leave. They often came alone to buy two pancakes, always supporting me. I have deep feelings for the neighbors in Guangzhou. Without them, I couldn't have held on for these ten-plus years," Brother Fei said.

To give back to the neighbors, he insisted on keeping the store open until February 27. In Brother Fei's philosophy, "Feelings are mutual, and giving should be equal."

The busy work continued until 8 p.m., when Brother Fei hastily ate a few bites of dinner and prepared to turn off the lights and pack up. At the moment he pressed the power button, "a grown man, in the end, couldn't hold back his tears."

△ Brother Fei took a final photo with Carrefour behind him. (Photo provided by interviewee)

Standing at the entrance of Wanguo Plaza, Brother Fei took a final photo with Carrefour behind him, captioning it "Goodbye, Wanguo Carrefour." He knew that from tomorrow, the yellow Carrefour uniform he had worn for 20 years would no longer be his.

"If I could, I would still want to continue working in the same place. If Wanguo and Carrefour still want me, I would go without hesitation. Because my neighbors are here," Brother Fei said.

Source: Times Weekly (ID: timeweekly)

_**-END-**_


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