Super Zhuanzhuan store by SpaceStation

Following years of exponential growth of luxury goods, which made the country one of its biggest markets on the planet, a lot of factors have not only led to a significant slowdown, but also to diversified consumer behaviour. While the older well-heeled continue with their trophy purchases, younger demographics like Millennials and Gen Z, with both modest and bigger budgets, have increasingly turned to vintage, making it an emerging, if not booming, retail segment that is now starting to make waves in the country’s first-tier cities. The massive, new Super Zhuanzhuan store in Beijing is indicative of this trend. Founded by Shenzhen-based general goods market place Zhuanzhuan Group, which already operated smaller stores nationwide, Super Zhuanzhuan is a brand new retail format. The new retail space measures a whopping 3,000 sqm. (32,292 sq.ft.) on the third floor of the former Friendship Store.

Ironically, the latter, a department store originally founded in 1964 by the Chinese Communist Party, was the country’s very first retail venture, and a high-profile one at that, which could only be accessed by diplomats, foreign visitors and high-ranking officials, and only foreign exchange coupons were accepted as payment. Needless to say, the merchandise was exclusive and imported from abroad. Fast-forward to 2025, and Super Zhianzhuan is the first new retail space to open on the redeveloped premises of the Friendship Store. Designed by SpaceStation, an architecture practice based in the Chinese capital, the setting is that of a well-organised warehouse with a wide array of sleek shelving units and displays. The design revolves around two notions: one being the issue of the bare value of the vintage goods after they’re stripped of the brand packaging, and the other being the sober aesthetic of an intentional warehouse-style display space.

Although the perception of their value, through brand building, shifts, the value is able to remain because of the used materials, applied craftsmanship and good design. The latter can also be said of the design and densely packed configuration, which are respectively understated and functional. All furnishings have been crafted from white steel frames, paired with Kraft paper trays. The elongated, corridor-like space, flanked on one side by large floor-to-ceiling windows, sees a curved constellation of shelving units which not only adds depth, but also also a spatial dynamic. The Super Zhuanzhuan store is divided into two sections, one with fixed shelving units, and one with mobile units, both similalrly constructed. The Super Zhuanzhuan store stocks a tightly curated offfering of goods, ranging from designer apparel, bags and eyewear, which are all authenticated, to electronics and cameras. © superfuture