"Three Kingdoms Bloody Battle" at Zhengzhou Outlets: Who Will Dominate the Next Decade?
In the winter of 2009, there was a huge crowd at Baolong City Plaza in Zhengdong New Area, Zhengzhou. On the opening day of Kangcheng Outlets, nearly 100,000 people flocked in. This first true outlet in the Central Plains, with its new approach of "famous brands + discounts", ignited the infinite imagination of Zhengzhou people towards international luxury brands.
However, this bustling scene only lasted for two years and then faded away. Unstable supply sources and poor operation made Kangcheng Outlets a sigh in the commercial history of Zhengzhou. Even more regrettable is that in the following years, a number of projects under the banner of "outlets", such as Tianhe Outlets, Shimao Outlets, and Hongyu Outlets, appeared one after another, but all ended up in failure. In that era, "outlets" was more like a beautiful guise for real - estate land acquisition rather than a truly viable business.
It wasn't until 2016, when the Zhongmu store of Shanshan Outlets opened, that Zhengzhou welcomed a real outlet again. With more than 30 international first - and second - tier brands and a direct - sales store of NIKE Factory, Shanshan Outlets made a profit in the year of its opening. In 2017, it entered the "1 - billion - yuan club", and in 2019, its sales exceeded 1.6 billion yuan.
Shanshan Outlets not only changed the history of Zhengzhou without a benchmark outlet but also made Zhongmu a destination for consumers across the province. Subsequently, Capitaland and Huasheng successively entered the market, and Wangfujing and Dennis also shared the market in the form of urban outlets. And in 2024, the opening of the Erqi store of Shanshan Outlets made Zhengzhou the first city with two Shanshan Outlets stores, firmly establishing the pattern of "Shanshan's dominance".
However, a real change is brewing in the west. At the beginning of 2026, Bailian Co., Ltd. first disclosed that the Zhengzhou Zhongyuan Bailian Outlets is planned to open in September 2027. With a total investment of over 2 billion yuan and a floor area of 150,000 square meters, it is positioned as a "super cultural and tourism boutique outlet".
Bailian entered the western part of Zhengzhou with a light - asset model, only a few kilometers away from Capitaland Outlets, and directly collided with the "leisure and tourism" positioning of Shanshan's Zhongmu store. Three leading operators - Shanshan, Capitaland, and Bailian - are gathered in Zhengzhou, and a "life - and - death battle" regarding customer flow, brands, and operation has already begun.
Who will dominate the next decade of the Central Plains outlets? The answer is emerging in the fierce battle.
01.
From "Empty Promises" to Benchmark
17 Years of Enlightenment and Differentiation
The development history of Zhengzhou's outlets starts with Kangcheng Outlets in 2009, and the opening of the Zhongmu store of Shanshan Outlets in 2016 is the watershed of differentiation.
Enlightenment Era: Kangcheng's Short - lived Success and the Collective "Failure" of Empty Promisers
In December 2009, Kangcheng Outlets opened at Baolong City Plaza in Zhengdong New Area, with an operating area of 30,000 square meters. Brands like Burberry, Gucci, and Armani all made their appearance. Nearly 100,000 people flocked in on the opening day, and Zhengzhou people tasted the sweetness of "famous brands + discounts" for the first time.
However, there was a lack of a professional local operation team, the supply sources were unstable, and the brand structure was chaotic. Once the novelty wore off, the customer flow dropped sharply. Two years later, Kangcheng Outlets closed down, dousing the market's expectations for Zhengdong New Area.
But this didn't stop the enthusiasm for making "empty promises". From 2012 to 2016, Tianhe Outlets in Huiji District, Xin Tiancheng · Donglinhu Outlets in Erqi District, Hongyu Outlets in the Airport Economic Zone, and Shimao Outlets in the Economic Development Zone appeared one after another. Shimao Outlets even shouted the slogan of being "the largest in the central region" and held a high - profile foundation - laying ceremony in 2014, but in the end, it didn't even make a splash.
The truth is simple: in that era, developers used the banner of "outlets" to acquire land for housing sales. The lack of actual outlet operation ability made the market's confidence in Zhengzhou's outlet format drop to rock bottom after repeated disappointments.
The only one that survived was the urban outlet project of Dennis, the local leading enterprise, in the CBD. It's not a benchmark, but at least it proves that the outlet business in Zhengzhou is not a dead end.
The Rise of the Benchmark: Shanshan's Zhongmu Store Rewrites History
In September 2016, Zhengzhou Shanshan Outlets (Zhongmu store) opened, becoming the first standardized outlet project in Zhengzhou in the true sense and completely changing the market narrative.
At the beginning of its opening, Zhengzhou Shanshan Outlets (Zhongmu store) had already introduced more than 30 international first - and second - tier brands such as Bottega Veneta, Armani, Versace, VERRI, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, COACH, Michael Kors, and Max Mara. It also gathered a number of sports and leisure brands including Nike, Adidas, and New Balance, including the third factory direct - sales store of NIKE in Zhengzhou.
The rich brands and novel experience brought considerable customer flow and sales to Zhengzhou Shanshan Outlets (Zhongmu store). In just a few years, it had entered the top ranks of outlets in the country. In 2016, the year of its opening, the project achieved profitability; in 2017, it entered the "1 - billion - yuan club"; in 2019, the sales reached 1.625 billion yuan, with an annual increase of 30%.
Shanshan's success was like a bomb, waking up the entire market.
In 2017, Huasheng Outlets under South China City made its debut in the Shuanghu Avenue business district of Xinzheng City; in 2018, Capitaland Outlets opened in the Xin Tiancheng area of Xingyang, featuring Italian - style architecture and gathering nearly 200 well - known international and domestic brands, such as CO Fashion Outlets Multi - Brands Boutique, FANSNADI, BESIONIA, Marisfrolg, NIKE, Adidas, BELLE, etc. Its main radiation area is the western part of Zhengzhou, and its customer group is different from that of Shanshan.
In addition, Zhengzhou Wanhua Outlets, also located in Zhongmu County, opened in 2022, with a floor area of about 35,000 square meters. It claims to create a new - type urban outlet integrating retail and a live - streaming base.
Meanwhile, the wave of "outlet - style" transformation of traditional department stores began. On August 30, 2019, Wangfujing Department Store in Zhengzhou Jinyicheng, which had been open for just over six years, officially announced its transformation into an urban outlet. On the basis of adjusting existing brand stores into outlet stores, it introduced leading outlet stores and became the fifth urban outlet operated by Wangfujing Group across the country. After the renovation, in 2021, the average daily customer flow improved significantly, reaching 47,000 people.
However, Jinboda, which also announced its transformation in 2019, had a rather miserable situation. In 2019, Jinboda, located in the Erqi business district and belonging to Dashang Group, had suffered losses for three consecutive years. In order to "save itself", the project decided to cooperate with Henan Madison and announced its transformation into an urban outlet. However, after only four months of operation, on March 31, 2020, Dashang Group unilaterally announced its closure, leaving a mess of more than 70 million yuan in losses for merchants and more than 10 million yuan in payment disputes.
This bloody lesson shows that without brand resources and operation ability, blindly "transforming" into an outlet is also a form of self - destruction.
