‘Incomparably nice’: why China’s shoppers are obsessed with an obscure local supermarket
Pangdonglai has proved there is still life in bricks-and-mortar retail in China, with customers queuing for hours outside its stores ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday
It is a bitterly cold afternoon in Xuchang, a small city in northern China’s Henan province. A persistent wind swirls around the street, bringing shivers from the bundled figures hunched on the pavement.
But the shoppers refuse to be put off by the wintry conditions. There are dozens of them lined up outside the mall – and they are prepared for a long wait. A nearby sign states that the doors will not open for another 90 minutes.
“In the mornings, people start waiting from 6am or 7am, which is hours before the mall opens,” said a staff member supervising the queue, who declined to be named, citing company policy.
The scene looks like a product launch for a new smartphone, but the store that has inspired this excitement is in fact a local supermarket named Pangdonglai.
Pangdonglai has become an unexpected viral sensation in China over the past couple of years, making its stores go-to destinations ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on January 28.
