Over the past decade, the crown for global luxury mall retail sales has belonged to China. The jewel in that crown has been Beijing SKP, which has repeatedly held the title of "global store king" with annual sales exceeding 20 billion yuan.
However, in 2024, Nanjing Deji Plaza seized the "global store king" crown. Now, with the help of a rising Chinese brand – LAOPU GOLD – SKP is determined to reclaim its lost throne.
Recently, LAOPU GOLD's independent store on the first floor of Beijing SKP officially opened. This is its third store in Beijing SKP, similar to Hermès and CHANEL, breaking the traditional monopoly of international luxury brands on the prime first-floor locations.
Investment industry sources revealed that LAOPU GOLD's sales at SKP last year were approximately 2 billion yuan. This year, with the new store addition, it's estimated to reach 3-4 billion yuan, which will become a key factor in SKP's bid to reclaim the store king title.
Beijing SKP, this renowned luxury mall, is attempting to return to the "store king" position by heavily betting on LAOPU GOLD. However, the "store king" competition is not just about sales figures – it has taken on new meaning. It's no longer a race to sign more international brands or a competition in luxury mall tenant recruitment, but rather a deep insight into the psychological changes of Chinese consumers.
The global luxury goods market is rapidly entering a new era. The emergence of LAOPU GOLD is less a remedy for SKP than a new examination paper handed to all high-end malls, and the real test has just begun.
**The Lost Throne**
For many years, SKP, located on Beijing's Dawang Road, has maintained its position as China's and even the world's store king.
However, 2024 proved to be a watershed year for Beijing SKP, with annual sales of 22 billion yuan, down 17% year-over-year. Meanwhile, in Nanjing, another luxury mall located by the Qinhuai River – Deji Plaza – surpassed Beijing SKP with sales of 24.5 billion yuan to become the new "store king."
Behind this lies the intense turbulence in the global luxury goods market. According to a Bain & Company report, the global luxury market lost approximately 50 million customers in 2024, with over 70% of consumers comparing prices across platforms before purchasing luxury goods. In mainland China, personal luxury goods market sales declined by approximately 18%-20%.
The collective winter for international luxury brands is directly reflected in luxury group financial reports.
In the first half of 2025, LVMH Group's total revenue fell 4% year-over-year to 39.81 billion euros, with net profit down 22% to 5.69 billion euros. Kering Group's operating revenue was 7.587 billion euros, down 16% year-over-year, with net profit of 474 million euros, down 46% year-over-year. GUCCI's revenue fell 26% year-over-year to 3.027 billion euros.
Such turbulence also reflects changes in luxury consumption trends.
Industry analysts note that luxury consumption shows polarization trends. Middle-class consumers whose wealth has shrunk actively exit the luxury shopping army, turning to more value-preserving consumption like gold, shifting from experiential to functional consumption. Ultra-wealthy groups continue to show remarkable purchasing power and embrace first-tier brands, but this demographic represents a small proportion, making the luxury industry susceptible to cyclical impacts.
Meanwhile, the consumption landscape for luxury goods is also changing. Taking Nanjing's Deji Plaza as an example, it has validated the victory of diversified experiences and social spaces. In 2024, Deji's sales surged to 24.5 billion yuan, averaging over 66.93 million yuan per day and selling approximately 2.79 million yuan per hour.
Success was not accidental. Deji broke the traditional boring retail model of high-end malls, building a luxury consumption ecosystem that pursues diversity rather than purely relying on international brands.
Here, the Deji Art Museum regularly holds exhibitions. Third-party data shows that the conversion rate of exhibition visitors to high-end consumer customers reaches 38%. The mall spent millions creating themed restrooms that attract over 5,000 daily check-ins, driving a 20% increase in surrounding store sales.
On another front, this also reflects targeting different consumer groups. Deji Plaza precisely targets Generation Z consumers. Public data shows that China's Generation Z accounts for about 20% of the population but represents 40% of China's overall consumption.
Besides luxury brands, Deji introduced fashion trend brands like CHUU, NERDY, ERDOS, and UNDEFEATED, and equipped itself with over 60 food establishments, covering everything from high-end dining to reasonably priced small shops.
These measures increased foot traffic and vibrancy to this high-end mall. For many consumers, while luxury goods costing tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of yuan are unaffordable, spending thousands of yuan on a refined dining experience is still considerable.
Thus, under multiple factors, Deji Plaza successfully "ascended to the throne" last year.
**Betting on LAOPU GOLD**
Under competitive pressure, SKP must make changes.
Beijing SKP was originally named Shin Kong Place, enjoying a transcendent position and aloof temperament among domestic luxury malls. The industry once circulated the saying, "If new products can't be found at SKP, they're nowhere in the country," showing its prestige.
But relying solely on traditional international brands is no longer sufficient to support SKP's facade. In recent years, this mall chose to allow a gold jewelry brand to enter, and it became a catalyst stirring up the market.
This year, waves of consumers flocked to SKP, not to purchase bags from established luxury stores, but to squeeze into LAOPU GOLD to acquire coveted gold jewelry pieces. During the craziest queuing periods, people joked that "old money turned the luxury mall into a wet market."
Reflected in financial reports, LAOPU GOLD is thriving. In the first half of 2025, LAOPU GOLD achieved total revenue of 12.35 billion yuan, up 251% year-over-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.27 billion yuan, up 286% year-over-year.
Although LAOPU GOLD's revenue scale is not yet in the same league as the aforementioned luxury groups, the contrasting trends reveal consumer flow patterns.
According to Frost & Sullivan research data, LAOPU GOLD consumers have an average overlap rate of nearly 80% with consumers of five major international luxury brands: Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Cartier, and Bulgari.
According to financial reports, as of June 30, LAOPU GOLD had entered 29 leading commercial centers with 41 stores. In the first half of this year, LAOPU GOLD achieved average sales performance of 459 million yuan per mall, not only significantly exceeding domestic and international jewelry brands but also leading some international luxury first-tier giants.
Third-party data shows that in the first half of this year, LAOPU GOLD achieved nearly 220% performance growth at Beijing SKP. While international brands continued declining, it single-handedly increased Beijing SKP's sales by approximately 20%.
Comparing last year's sales figures, the differences among Beijing SKP, Nanjing Deji Plaza, and Shanghai IFC – the top-ranked luxury malls – are not significant.
This means that for Beijing SKP, LAOPU GOLD, which doesn't lack consumers, opening another store and operating at full capacity for a year could help it return to the "store king" position.
LAOPU GOLD has become a key bargaining chip in high-end mall competition. The industry even widely circulates that "whoever becomes 'store king,' LAOPU GOLD decides."
Xu Bing (pseudonym), who has been engaged in commercial real estate leasing in Wuxi for decades, is a regular Deji customer. Every time he goes to Nanjing, he visits Deji, partly to shop at luxury stores unavailable at Wuxi Hang Lung and partly to study Deji's operational strategies.
In his view, Deji aggregates quality purchasing power from Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, while Beijing SKP and Shanghai IFC, despite occupying premium customer sources in first-tier cities, face countless commercial complexes in these large cities with many luxury mall options. But in Nanjing, Deji has limited competitors and is almost monopolistic.
Long-term, he believes Deji is not static or stagnant. "LAOPU GOLD is in expansion mode, with queues guaranteed and no shortage of foot traffic. Since it can open another store in Beijing SKP, why not open another in Deji?"
Another commercial real estate professional, Harry, working in Shenzhen, stated, "I've been observing LAOPU GOLD's business logic since its Shenzhen flagship store opened. Its operating model differs from traditional gold jewelry brands, pursuing uniqueness in products, craftsmanship, and marketing, so its rapid growth isn't surprising."
However, he also pointed out that the gold category has its limitations, and relying on gold alone to support a luxury mall's revenue is far from sufficient. "Currently, it still mainly depends on traditional international luxury brands. The future depends on whether LAOPU GOLD can become a global first-tier luxury brand."
Regardless, LAOPU GOLD has become the decisive factor in high-end mall market share competition. Whoever secures LAOPU GOLD has the potential to reach first place.
Of course, for luxury malls overall, they still need to deploy diverse luxury brands while strengthening social and experiential aspects to continuously grow market share.
**Changing Landscape**
LAOPU GOLD's entry into Beijing SKP's first floor, becoming a key competitive factor for high-end malls, also signifies a structural transformation in luxury malls over nearly 30 years – from complete dependence on international luxury brands to introducing strong Chinese brands.
Next month, with the opening of the Shanghai Grand Gateway 66 store, LAOPU GOLD will become the only Chinese brand achieving full coverage in luxury malls.
In luxury mall revenue composition, approximately 90% of revenue comes from the top 30% of brands. Previously, these malls' competitive core basically revolved around international luxury brands.
However, with China's rapid economic development and consumers' shift from material to spiritual and experiential consumption, luxury malls are also changing their deep dependence on international brands, with LAOPU GOLD being the most typical example.
Xu Bing explained that generally, due to cost and renovation cycle loss considerations, about 70% of mall stores don't change annually. These brands constitute the mall's stable foundation, while the remaining 30% might be replaced through elimination or new store introduction.
During replacements, high-end malls increasingly value flagship store economics and exclusive cooperation, also prioritizing domestic internet-famous brands that can bring traffic. Especially brands like LAOPU GOLD with both traffic and high sales, these are key targets for luxury mall recruitment.
Xu Bing mentioned that he and colleagues daily monitor emerging internet-famous brands' store opening trends and domestic brand development status.
Xu Bing emphasized, "Calling them internet-famous brands isn't derogatory – it's about understanding consumption trends." Although his mall couldn't introduce LAOPU GOLD, other internet-famous brands brought considerable foot traffic.
Harry further pointed out that cultural confidence drives domestic brand consumption, with many domestic brands drawing inspiration from traditional culture to create unique symbols and logos. Besides LAOPU GOLD, Harry is also optimistic about Songmont.
However, he also believes that from commercial project profitability perspectives, these brands compared to traditional luxury or even affordable luxury brands are still not fully mature and require further observation.
From SKP queuing rushes to social media frenzies, gold consumption has been endowed with multiple meanings of investment, cultural identity, and emotional value. Chinese people's preference for gold's value-preserving properties and cultural identity return have made LAOPU GOLD an exception in the declining luxury era and a highly sought-after prize for luxury malls.
The sustainability of this cultural consumption requires more domestic brand rises for support. The global luxury market landscape may also be significantly rewritten.
In this sense, SKP's battle for the "global store king" title will never stop.