Youthful enthusiasm making good business better

Li Haocheng, 26, is extremely busy these days. He spends most of his time explaining each rare card of the Chinese animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2" to customers and arranging stock due to the popularity of the film.

At the same time, Qiu Jian, a young entrepreneur, was brainstorming innovative ideas for his café on Yongjia Road in Xuhui District, something he'd dreamed about for a long time.

Youth power is blowing up a whirlwind and reshaping the consumption market, and various youth stores with unique features that bear the dreams of the young generation are sprouting in the city.

Young entrepreneurs making up "youth economy"

Last June, L'âm Écri Café opened on Yongjia Road, triggering a lot of interest due to its unique design.

The café features a top hat and cane used by Somerset Maugham, author of The Moon and Sixpence, as well as manuscripts by Hans Christian Andersen, notes by Romain Rolland, and Einstein's scribbled calculations.

It is currently exhibiting letters and manuscripts by Chinese literary giants such as Ba Jin, Bing Xin, and Cao Yu.

"From the very beginning, we aimed to create a gathering place for literature enthusiasts, frequently inviting scholars to host literary salons and to create an immersive space for reading and communication," said its owner Qiu Jian, who is also an independent artist.

Though the dream was beautiful, the initial days of opening were fraught with difficulties. Qiu admitted that the moon-like ideal would also encounter the reality of sixpence, such as rent and restrictions on business categories.

Rent is the major headache. An idea was coined up – a "coffee-by-day, wine-by-night" model.

"The business recruitment standard for this location at that time was coffee. We can only sell coffee and do not have a license for alcoholic beverages. With such a prime location and expensive rent, if we cannot operate for a longer period, it is a significant disadvantage and would have led to big losses."

Qiu resorted to government support.

Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Tianping Road Subdistrict and the Xuhui District Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, the café successfully obtained a license to sell alcohol. By adopting the "coffee-by-day, wine-by-night" model, revenue increased by 30 percent.

"For small shop owners like us, this is a pressing issue. The resolution of issues such as outdoor seating has given me great confidence to continue," Qiu said.

"We have a treasure in our café, a handwritten explanation of 'truth, goodness, and beauty' by Hans Christian Andersen. The Royal Library of Denmark has made multiple requests to collect it, but I have refused. It now resides in this small café, and I believe it can inspire many people."

"Now I am confident in running the café and providing a space for literary enthusiasts to exchange ideas," he added.

Youthful shops not only attract young consumers but also young entrepreneurs. Zong Qing, born in 2004, introduced ancient and interesting handicrafts at the traditional Chinese healing courtyard, Jin Kun Xin She, a DIY workshop in Xuhui, with great passion.

"Last year, I visited 11 cities. I explored different places and experienced various folk cultures and traditional handicrafts. These experiences brought me great spiritual comfort, and I want to promote and carry forward these traditional cultures to more, which was the purpose of opening this workshop."

"Ne Zha cards are the best sellers in our shop recently," said Li Haocheng, manager of the Hopson outlet of domestic leading pan-entertainment company Kayou in Yangpu District.

Each box of cards contains 18 packs, with five cards per pack. Some cards reproduce famous scenes, while others feature classic character images. The rare cards, including those signed by director Jiao Zi, holographic cards, and character illustration cards, are all very popular.

For the "post-80s" and "post-90s" generations, exchanging Three Kingdoms cards and Water Margin cards from crispy noodles, and competing with their own Pokémon and Ultraman cards, are collective childhood memories. After decades, the popularity of cards has not diminished. It has not only ignited the new enthusiasm for secondary consumption but also supported a market worth billions of dollars.

"We have seen many consumers who rushed to our store to buy cards after watching the film, and it is common that all 100-plus packs we just put on the shelves were sold out at night...About 80 percent of consumers are young generation," Li said.

"There are some foreign consumers. For example, a Japanese customer is a regular. He only bought Chinese IP products such as Three Kingdoms cards and The Dream of Red Mansion cards, and his purchases reach over 1,000 yuan (US$138) each time."

Li, born in 1999 and a native of Yunnan Province, worked at the store after graduating from university in Shanghai.

"I myself also like to buy 'gu zi' (goods)," he said. "IP is the core resource of cards. The popularity of guochao (China-chic) cards is now very high, and the sales of cards of The Legend of Qin (China's first homegrown 3D cartoon series) and Romance of the Three Kingdoms is also very good."

Eying the guochao popularity, Kayou has launched new card series based on masterpieces by the late Chinese martial arts writer Louis Cha.

"The store is one of my favorites in the city because I collect cards as a hobby," said Liu Gang, 27. "I am addicted to classic Chinese novels and cartoons, and I have watched 'Na Zha 2' three times."

"When new cards were released, I was informed of by store staff and would come immediately to purchase the cards, and the exquisite card design made me fascinated," he said.

According to iiMedia Research data, the market size of China's "gu zi (goods) economy" reached 168.9 billion yuan in 2024, an increase of 40.63 percent compared to 2023, and it is expected to exceed 300 billion yuan by 2029.

Riding this wave, Feng Ninghua opened 10 COMIPLUS stores across the country last year. The shop mainly deals in anime peripherals, offering limited-edition peripherals, themed check-in areas, and customized soft drinks, among other anime derivatives. The first store, near the city's university cluster in Yangpu District, attracted a large number of young people.

COMIPLUS+, which originated from CP, or "ComicUP," one of the biggest anime expos in China, focuses on exploring domestic IPs and creating immersive consumption experiences. It transforms the intangible emotional value into something tangible and lasting.

"Physical stores represent our second entrepreneurial endeavor besides the expo," said Feng. "Our unique approach is to collaborate with domestic IPs and create original cultural and creative content. We have over 20,000 self-employed designers and illustrators nationwide. Comic authors may participate in signing events and hold activities in the store. We offer coffee and soft drinks that are linked with IPs, and the store features immersive photo-taking zones.

"Each ComicUP attracted over 200,000 young people and has witnessed the growth of countless domestic anime creators, animators, and game teams."

Feng said they have have formed in-depth cooperation with top domestic IPs such as Onmyoji, White Cat Legend, and I am What I am. "With these rich exclusive resources, we can produce a variety of original products, which is our unique advantage."

The majority of the store's customers are female.

"I visit the store very often as it is a treasure shop," said Iris Lin, a university student. "It frequently upgrades stock and I can find something here which is rare in other stores."

In the Baile ZX at Wujiaochang, anime fans dressed in cosplay costumes enjoy the fun of shopping. In Yuyuan Garden Scenic Area, young people in Hanfu (traditional attire) costumes immerse themselves in a dazzling light show. At the Binhai Lighthouse Campsite in Baoshan District, urban youth embraced the riverside sunset and gathered around bonfires, concluding the winter with a bonfire concert.

Through these snapshots on the streets of Shanghai, it is evident that the consumption mindset of the young has shifted: from pursuing the practicality of products to paying more for emotional value. This transformation has driven the evolution of consumption patterns towards personalization and experiential engagement, and has also forced businesses to integrate more emotional connections into their products and settings.

Trendy toy shop

Located on the fourth floor of New World Department Store, Shin Dang is a trendy toy shop themed around ‌Crayon Shin-chan and Doraemon. The person in charge, Hu Yuorong, of the post-00s generation, and his staff, mostly peers, have had many inquiries about product selection, location choice, and management strategies.

The development of youth shops are confronted with challenges. Some issues cannot be resolved by the shop owners alone.

Hu believes that creating a clustered theme block can not only promote experiential consumption among young people but also help young entrepreneurs find their market positioning.

"For young entrepreneurs who want to venture into the ACG (Animation, Comics and Games) world, they need to pay attention to the agglomeration effect of the area and seek more systematic support from the government," said Hu.

Albeit young, Hu has a deep understanding of the business. "ACG is not something that can be simply started by opening a shop on the street. It has a strong street attribute and the business can be boosted only after the entire fourth floor of New World got renovated. It must be operated in a set and systematic way."

The Shanghai Committee of the Communist Youth League of China has released an implementation plan recently aiming to boost the "youth economy" and consumption. It focuses on the consumption habits, interest industries, and entrepreneurial opportunities of young people, providing policy support and service for youth entrepreneurship and employment.

Hu's ideas have found an echo in the plan. In terms of cultivating consumption hotspots, it emphasizes combining local characteristics with the features of young people to develop youth consumption products with originality and competitiveness, and creating diversified consumption tracks. By building youth-oriented development districts and 24-hour "youth power" units, the plan aims to offer young people more novel and interesting choices, stimulating their desire to consume.