This Gen Z shopping centre in China is the most vibrant spot in Shanghai, with fashion, street culture and clubbing all under one roof
- Up to 40,000 people every day pass through the doors of TX Youth Energy Centre in Shanghai, which houses an eclectic mix of shops, clubs and restaurants
- ‘We wanted it to become a cultural landmark for youth,’ says the centre’s creator, Hong Kong-born Dickson Szeto
During the day on the lower floors, upwardly mobile young people browse the cornucopia of consumer options, marvelling at snazzy clothing, cutting-edge art and slick sneakers.
At night, on the top floor – to a thudding soundtrack of techno music and a mesmerising, room-wide light show – cash-rich financiers and successful start-up entrepreneurs party until the small hours.
The venue is TX Youth Energy Centre in Shanghai where, on a busy day, up to 40,000 people pass through the doors, anxious to see and be seen at the most vibrant spot in the city.
The centre is the creation of Hong Kong-born Dickson Szeto, a visionary real-estate specialist who personally supervised every element of design and content, resulting in a dizzyingly eclectic consumer mix that breaks the mould of the traditional city shopping centre.
The six-storey TX building, on bustling Huai Hai Road, had been an Isetan department store before it was gutted and refurbished to appeal to the youth of China’s second city. Would-be retailers have to answer a series of searching questions from the boss before setting up shop, and a flagging operation is unlikely to last beyond the first lease.
It puts intense pressure on the vendors to maintain impeccably high standards and show their most innovative side; in return, they are guaranteed a steady stream of shoppers offering an opportunity to cement consumer loyalty. Mainstream brands are not discouraged but their managers, too, are grilled at length and warned that a pedestrian, cookie-cutter approach will not pass muster.
