One of the challenges of operating a convenience store is theft by shoplifters. In the United States alone, the losses of small city retail stores were estimated at over $94 billion in 2021, Bloomberg reported.
Washington State recorded the highest retail store losses from theft in the country, according to the National Retail Federation. Local stores have installed security cameras, motion sensors, and inventory control systems to help prevent shoplifting, an NRF survey showed.
It remains to be seen if such high-tech security measures work, but location and size are definitely effective in discouraging shoplifters for one remote convenience store in China.
The tiny wooden store at the Shiniuzhai Scenic Area in the Chinese province of Hunan is only two square meters. Opened in 2018, the store recently trended online after a popular military blogger with 889,400 followers posted on the popular Chinese social network Weibo a photo with the caption: "The most inconvenient convenience store," CNN reported.
Few customers are served by the store but not because of its limited offerings. It just so happens to be located along a route less traveled called via ferrata.
The pathway for climbers consists of steel bars driven into the mountainside to serve as steps and metal anchors for fastening climbing ropes.
In any case, the store is convenient for adventurers summiting the mountain, as they can get a water refill or buy a beverage for hydration while perched on the side of a vertical cliff.
At the same time, the store looks inconvenient for its sole attendant as it hangs halfway to the top of the cliff, 120 meters from the ground, with its floor supported only by steel brackets bolted to the cliffside.
Moreover, restocking requires the storekeeper to pull up supplies from the ground with a rope, according to Oddity Central.
To others, inconvenient is an understatement for the store hanging from a cliff. Scary should be a more accurate description.