Three newly opened shopping malls in Changsha have attracted nearly 70 first-entry brand outlets.

Changsha's commercial sector has fully entered a new stage of quality improvement and content-driven growth. Small-scale, differentiated, and boutique-oriented operations have become the core labels of newly opened commercial projects in Changsha.

This trend is fully reflected in the performance of Changsha's commercial market in the first half of 2026. In the first half of the year, only three commercial complexes opened in Changsha, namely TX Changsha Youth Power Center, Huijing City, and Bixiang Chuxiang, all of which achieved a high first-store conversion rate with precise positioning and differentiated strategies. According to incomplete statistics from Winshang, the three projects have introduced nearly 70 first stores in total (city-level first stores and above, including those not yet opened), serving as a sample of "small yet sophisticated" commercial upgrading.

01.

TX Changsha Youth Power Center

■ Opening date: June 30, 2026

As the first curation-focused retail commercial space in Central China, TX Changsha Youth Power Center ushered in its opening season on June 30. Taking "trend curation + deep cultivation of night economy + first store matrix" as the three core focuses, it builds a new landmark for young trend consumption in Changsha.

Empowered by diversified curation,

build an immersive trend scene

A number of heavyweight trend art curation activities were launched simultaneously with the opening of the project. A 30-meter Lego-themed new urban landmark and a 3.3-meter giant minifigure made their debut, and the Central China premiere of the "BRICK & JOY" Lego brick-themed exhibition landed in Changsha. "Bùdà Department Store · Tyakasha" brought a brand-new themed exhibition in Changsha and launched limited-edition series at the same time. In addition, nearly 10 trend curation activities including the Changsha stop of the personal art exhibition "You Are Already Great" by Yeyoushangqiu, the Hunan premiere of the "Little Notebook" pudding co-branded art exhibition, and the "Fuzzy Me" healing cute pet illustration art exhibition also kicked off at the same time.

Deeply cultivate the night economy,

strengthen the "Golden Hour"

Changsha has been selected as one of the "Top 10 Cities with Strong Night Economic Influence in China" for many consecutive years, and has been rated as China's most happy city for 18 consecutive years. Data shows that night consumption in Changsha accounts for 60% of the total daily consumption, and the average daily flow of people in the Wuyi business district during peak periods exceeds one million.

With the continuous rise in demand for night consumption, TX Changsha actively adjusted its operation rhythm, postponed the closing time of ordinary commercial complexes from 22:00 to 23:00, and filled the gap of high-quality night consumption in the business district through the "Golden Hour", so as to undertake the huge night flow of the Wuyi business district. High-rise pubs, amusement parks, and escape room theaters can operate independently until the early morning, accurately capturing the consumption peak of late-night snacks and night social activities in Changsha.

First store matrix,

build a unique supply system

The "high gold content" of TX Changsha is further reflected in its strong lineup of first stores. According to incomplete statistics from Winshang, the project has introduced more than 30 first stores, including 4 national first stores and 24 Central China first stores. Local trend benchmarks BURNIN and ESP are settled in centrally, while the national first store of London designer brand ALFIR, the first Central China stores of Wooha, HUMODESIGN, Daphne.lab and other brands are introduced. Combined with multi-brand stores such as ENG, Nothomme Market, Youxi Store, and a large number of pop-up stores, the entry threshold for niche designers and start-up trend brands is lowered, forming a unique supply system of "external pioneers + local characteristics".

■ Bùdà Department Store (Central China First Store)

A benchmark youth culture platform derived from Shanghai TX Huaihai, it has been fully upgraded after landing in Changsha, creating a 4,000 ㎡ double-layer retail space with three times the original volume, gathering more than 30 global original designer brands and owner-operated shops, providing commercial empowerment for emerging trend brands, and serving as the core carrier for hosting the core curation content in the venue.

■ ALFIR (National First Store)

ALFIR, a cutting-edge London designer brand, was founded in 2021 by two partners in London. Positioned as a young designer brand full of wonderful imagination, it focuses on accessories that are both expressive and suitable for daily wear. The brand's core inspiration comes from nature and small objects in daily life, hoping to turn everyday visible things into fashion accessories, and became popular with cute bread and fruit shaped accessories.

02.

Changsha Huijing City

■ Opening date: April 22, 2026

Changsha Huijing City is located in the core area of Changsha's core business district, close to Linguandu Station of Metro Line 3 and Bishahu Station of Metro Line 4, enjoying the advantage of a dual-metro hub, with convenient location and transportation and solid passenger flow foundation.

The project has a total construction area of about 35,000 square meters. Based on the original advantages of Xiangjiang River, Changsha Huijing City focuses on the two core tracks of first-store economy and night economy. With five modes of 2 pioneering business formats + 3 pioneering operations, it builds a phenomenal urban nightlife destination and constructs a new paradigm for long-term customer retention.

Build Xiangjiang nightlife cluster

Relying on the front-line river view resources of Xiangjiang River, Changsha Huijing City has tailored the "Xiangjiang Nightlife Cluster" to build a complete youth social consumption map of "tipsy leisure + CITYWALK roaming + late-night snacking". The business formats fully cover the core categories of night consumption such as river-view featured catering, light alcoholic drinks, late-night snacks, Livehouse, KTV, high-end billiards, and wellness leisure. A large number of popular Changsha night economy benchmark brands such as Tianba Brothers, Juwei Quji, Mei KTV, Waitan No.8 Billiards, and Kangyue First Class are introduced, making riverside night roaming a normalized lifestyle for young people in Changsha.

Scarce first stores enter the market,

boost urban consumption heat

The project takes "national debut, urban exclusive, featured limited" as the core standard for investment attraction, and continues to boost urban topic heat and consumption flow with scarce business formats, bringing nearly 10 first stores such as Tianba Brothers, Na Wulan, Shanji Xiaoxianggang, Fuguangji, TO Reign Bar, Yanzhi Jianghu live house, and Whale Island, further consolidating the differentiated competitiveness of the night economy.

■ Tianba Brothers (the only store in Changsha)

A phenomenal benchmark of late-night snack brands in Changsha, founded by three local Hunan entrepreneurs in 2015. It is known as the "Hermès of crayfish" in the industry, and has long been ranked on the Changsha Must-Eat List of Dianping. Adhering to the boutique small-scale chain route, the brand only has stores in Changsha and Shenzhen across the country, and the Huijing City store is the only store in Changsha. It is also the core main catering store of the project, focusing on high-quality Hunan crayfish and crab formal meals, deeply cultivating the night economy track, and is a benchmark IP of late-night snack catering in Changsha.

In May 2025, Tianba Brothers launched Changsha's first transparent catering testing room at the Changsha Huijing City store, realizing the full-process visualization of ingredients from testing to serving. On July 9, 2026, the brand officially signed a ten-year long-term renewal contract with Huijing City, and simultaneously upgraded and opened a new barbecue store, continuing to deeply cultivate the riverside night consumption market.

03.

Changsha Bixiang Chuxiang

■ Trial operation date: June 27, 2026

In the matrix of more than 20 first-store brands settled in the project, there are 7 Central China first stores and 9 non-standard owner-operated stores, covering multiple business formats such as local culture, trend socializing, featured catering and lifestyle. For example, "Yunmeng Shanhai · Tianfu Terrace", the national debut local cultural consumption space built relying on century-old cultural relics protection buildings, and the highly anticipated Hunan's first Cantonese intangible cultural heritage teahouse "Diandude".

At the same time, it gathers Central China first stores such as don't tell mama, the flagship store of Xiaomang Changsha, Mint Culture Group (OLA), Rolling Folk Music, and Xingjuhui Xparty, and introduces day-tea-and-night-wine and high-end social brands such as Yingmi Late Tavern, Mingyue bar, and YU·LOUNGE, as well as featured pet services such as Zixi Pet Service and En Yipai Pet. In addition, there are owner-operated brands such as Xingyi Sweet Shop, Shantao Buy42 Charity Shop, Qian Tuwu Liang Research Institute, and Viva La Vida, focusing on emotional value and niche experience, accurately matching the consumption needs of the new generation.

The two business formats of catering & socializing and featured retail that opened first performed brilliantly: OLA's Central China first store achieved a sales volume of over 1 million yuan on the first day. Since the opening of the Hunan first store of Yingmi Late Tavern, it has become the No.1 tavern in Changsha in terms of sales on Dianping.

■ Tianfu Terrace (National Debut)

Operated by the team of Jian Ming, a well-known local cultural curator in Changsha, it is the 3.0 upgraded version of the popular local teahouse "Dongma Street Teahouse". The team has mature experience in the activation and operation of cultural relics protection buildings. The brand is scheduled to open on August 10. Built relying on Tianfu Palace, a municipal cultural relics protection unit, it abandons the traditional closed viewing mode of ancient buildings, and innovatively integrates multiple business formats such as teahouse experience, intangible cultural heritage exhibition, digital light and shadow, cultural and handmade works, and featured markets, so that the century-old cultural relics protection building is deeply integrated into modern consumption scenarios, creating a unique Xiangchu cultural immersive consumption space in Changsha.

■ Shantao Buy42 Charity Shop (Hunan First Store)

The first chain charity shop in China, it is not a supermarket in the traditional sense, but a social innovation brand that integrates public welfare, environmental protection and community building. Its vision is to build a community public welfare ecosystem based on charity shops, and promote the formation of civic attitudes and lifestyles of inclusive integration, green environmental protection, and everyone participating in public welfare.

In March 2011, the brand's online Shantao website was officially launched, which was the first online charity shop in China, focusing on idle donation and online charity sale, opening the public welfare e-commerce model. In June 2017, the first offline physical store was opened in Shanghai, completing the online-offline O2O closed loop and officially starting the chain operation route. At present, more than 20 offline stores have been laid out in 7 cities including Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing and Wuhan.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Winshang", author: Nina, published with authorization from 36Kr.