Old department stores sell nostalgic journey to past

When Qiao Yanxiong was a boy in the 1950s and '60s, the neighborhood around Yong'an Road in Beijing was quiet and leafy. Neighbors all knew one another, and familiar local businesses catered to the daily needs of the community.

The streets were lined with small shops and outlets — a laundry, a grain store, a bank and a bookstore.

However, one emporium, the Yong'an Road Department Store, was the heartbeat of daily life.

Qiao, 71, who now runs the department store, grew up nearby. As a boy, he shopped there with his parents for virtually everything.

Nearly seven decades after the store opened on Jan 1,1958, he has one final goal. "I plan to work until 2028, finish the 70th anniversary celebration and then retire," he said proudly.

Qiao remembers the department store as a place where shoppers could find almost everything they needed, from underwear and socks to pots and pans, bicycles and household appliances.

The neighborhood and its surroundings have changed dramatically since those years. Many longtime residents have moved away, while supermarkets and online shopping have transformed the way people buy goods.

The store's floor space has also shrunk. Its two main sales areas now occupy about 200 square meters, and its inventory no longer includes fabrics, bicycles and household appliances.

But its identity remains deliberately old-fashioned, Qiao said. "Old store, old merchants, old products, old brands, old ways of selling and old ways of settling payments," he said. "The key word is 'old.'"

In the past, one of its busiest sections was the fabric counter, a small space where bolts of cloth were stacked beneath clothing and quilt covers. A sewing machine sat behind the counter, and sales staff doubled as seamsters, sewing items for customers when business was slow.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, customers queued all day to buy fabric, particularly toward the end of the year when fabric coupons were about to expire. Even plain white cloth often sold out.

The counter remained busy until the 1990s when ready-made clothes became cheaper with a wider variety.