Reviving old stores

In Taiwan, hundreds and thousands of old stores and restaurants lost their customers due to older generations withering away and the old product design and shop decoration losing attraction to younger generations.

Also, in many instances, as shopkeepers get old and not able to look after their stores anymore, their kids may lose interest in their businesses and hesitate to take them over, hence they have no choice but to close down the stores.

In recent years, people are seeing a trend that in order to save and revive old stores and buildings, local governments and cultural workers are working on renovation but, at the same time, retaining the shops and buildings’ original businesses or characteristics.

For example, in Pingtung County in southern Taiwan, the Ban Li Cafe was built in the 1950s by the owner’s grandfather Tsai Ban Li, who was a banker and the building was originally a private bank.

As time went by, the Japanese-Western eclectic architecture building dilapidated and Tsai Ban Li’s family was considering selling the house, but Tsai’s grandson was reluctant to sell it because of his fond memories living in the house and also to remember and honor his grandfather.

Eventually, the younger Tsai decided to renovate the old house but keep the precious features of the architecture design, and transformed it into a coffee shop.

After the renovation, visitors can still see the Roman columns, vintage Hinoki Cypress window frames, old bank treasury, Mosaic bathtub and vintage round lamp holders, and feel like walking into the past when they are sipping coffee in the Ban Li Cafe.

Another instance is Chifeng Street in Taipei City.

Chifeng Street, located in the Zhongshan business district, was considered as a blacksmith street because most of the shops here sold auto parts and hardware back in the old days.

Nonetheless, Chifeng Street has become the hub of independent shops and specialist boutiques, and the gathering of retro photo studios, vintage clothing stores, independent bookstores and old style auto repair shops create a sense of retro and modern interweaving, and make it one of the most popular areas for young people and Japanese tourists in Taipei.

One must not forget Wanhua and Datong Districts when talking about retro stores as the two districts are the earliest developed areas in Taipei and thus they are where old stores and buildings gathered.

In Wanhua and Datong Districts, visitors can find old style dried foods and snack groceries, retro roadside herbal tea stalls, traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies and cloth shops which are difficult to find in other areas, but young people usually would not be attracted to pay a visit to those stores.

After renovations, while these stores still sell the same products, the retro chic decoration and display of goods make the shops more inviting to young consumers, with the effort of social media promotions, more young people are willing to visit the districts and it improves customer flow and creates more business opportunities for the old stores.