Uncertain future for businesses on Daxue Road
Popular Daxue Road is at the center of a massive campaign to eliminate fire safety risks on its upper floors.
Young entrepreneur Li Ya's first milky tea store, which has franchise outlets in neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, may have to close under an ongoing fire safety crackdown on Daxue Road.
The Dream & Drink store ranks top of all drink shops in Yangpu District on food-rating website Dianping. Opened by Li and her boyfriend, both interior designers, it is widely popular due to its literary and artistic ambiance and "home-like" environment.
However, she has been told by the authorities that the store is in premises that are for residential or office use only.
If she wants to continue the business, she may have to rent another site.
"It is hard to find another place in Shanghai like Daxue Road with such an art environment and relatively low rents," the 26-year-old said.
A massive program is underway on the popular road to eliminate fire risks.
The district's market watchdog said many upstairs restaurants, nail salons and other businesses along the 800-meter-long road have been found to have fire safety and pollution issues. They have been ordered to put things right or change the nature of their business to comply with regulations.
Only ground-floor stores can be used for commercial purposes while upstairs rooms are for office or residential use. Their fire-prevention equipment, evacuation passageways and smoke ventilators were not designed for eateries or businesses that pose fire risks, such as restaurants or nail salons, the market supervision authority said.
However, an official with the Wujiaochang subdistrict said qualified and licensed upstairs businesses may continue to operate if they pass evaluations by the fire-prevention authority.
Li said the road where she started her Dream store in 2016 might also become the last stop of her entrepreneurship in the city.
"If we have to get relocated and cannot find an ideal new place, we might leave Shanghai and open the flagship store in neighboring cities like Hangzhou or my hometown Wenzhou, where business will be easier," she said.
The Dream & Drink milky tea store ranks top of all drink shops in Yangpu District on food-rating website Dianping.
The crackdown has stirred worries about the fate of the street. Businesspeople and students are concerned that the artistic ambiance and entrepreneurship might be gone with the shutdown of many popular stores.
"Most upstairs stores have a better environment,” said a woman who asked to be anonymous. She operates a cultural club on the road.
"Those upstairs businesses are the soul of Daxue Road,” she told Shanghai Daily.
The rent of upstairs premises is a third of ground-floor shops, which gives young entrepreneurs with insufficient startup funds more opportunities, she said.
Many incubators are operating on the road, serving a large number of startup firms following the nation’s “mass entrepreneurship and innovation” campaign. The road is popular with young entrepreneurs and students from the nearby Fudan University and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
"I've heard some of my favorite restaurants might be closed, so I grab the last chance to dine there one after another," said Tim Quintus, a senior student from the United States studying at Fudan's environmental science and engineering school.
The Yujianmian satay noodles restaurant opened by Zhao Lun, a former state-owned company employee, is a favorite with students like Quintus.
Zhao quit a "boring" office job to open the popular Xiamen-style noodles restaurant on the second floor of a building on Daxue Road in 2016, but now his small eatery might have to be converted back into office space.
"I will definitely comply with the regulation, but I need a specific order as soon as possible so that I can find a new place in time," Zhao told Shanghai Daily.
He said the rents of some nearby stores as well as the street shops near Daxue Road have been soaring. The price of a 120-square-meter street store, for instance, tripled to 60,000 yuan (US$8,955) a month from early this year.
Some upstairs stores on Daxue Road have already been shut down amid the ongoing fire-safety crackdown.
The overhaul was launched by the property management company responsible for the road in May last year after residents complained about noise and smoke problems.
The district authority issued rectification notices and closed down some unlicensed stores, such as several movie pubs, in December. Business operators have been asked to make changes, mainly to eliminate fire concerns, according to the subdistrict.
"For instance, some stores have replaced fire-prevention doors with glass doors to attract customers, which must be restored," an official with the subdistrict said.
The campaign will continue through June, when those businesses which fail to pass fire-safety evaluations will have to shut down, the fire-prevention authority said.
Nearby residents have mixed feelings about the destiny of the road. While some have complaints about the noise and smoke from some stores, others will lament their passing.
"Thanks to these stores, the environment of the road has been greatly improved compared with decades ago," said Wang Laidi, a senior resident who has been living on the road for nearly four decades.
"The road was once filled with wooden factories, warehouses, farmland and abandoned rails, but now it becomes a famous place that I often stroll around," Wang said.
A number of small businesses including tea houses, restaurants, tattoo parlors and beauty salons operate upstairs on Daxue Road.
