A Stroll in the JUICE Streetwear Flagship Store
Originating from Hong Kong, JUICE is Spreading in China
During my recent trip through China I had a keen interest in scouting out some different streetwear shops. Chengdu, known as a hipster and fashion-forward city in China was the next stop on my travel itinerary. I was really curious as to how much of a difference there was between Eastern and Western brands’ retail presence. My first two stops through my tour back in China had no real well-known shops to stop at. However, after flying into Chengdu, the last leg of of my journey I decided to really scavenge through the web. Of all major cities in China, Chengdu had to have one. It sure did. Anyone ever heard of JUICE streetwear?
This is what I finally came across after all my online researching for streetwear in Chengdu. Not too catchy of a name if you ask me, but supposedly the brand had some major backers including Edison Chen. JUICE is situated mainly throughout major Chinese coastline cities and Hong Kong. The Chengdu outlet was the newest flagship store for them opening just a year ago. It took quite a while just to find their store online, so I figured their retail store couldn’t be too grandeur. A taxi ride later down to the Tai Koo Li shopping district and a walk to the second floor. There was the JUICE store.
Must Visit: Tai Koo Li Mall
If you ever get to check out Chengdu and need a shopping destination, then Tai Koo Li is it. It is the epitome of a new modern shopping center based around a lifestyle. It has everything from trendy shops, to historic cultural posts, and tantalizing restaurants around every corner. The mall has a kind of dark essence to it utilizing a lot of black, but really gives you the modern feel with the focused, bright lights and eye-catching neon signs everywhere. The JUICE store was actually one of the more difficult shops to find as it wasn’t a huge sign. However, upon going in you definitely got the feel that it was a bit like a local shop that only the people in Chengdu knew about.
The JUICE streetwear shop was quiet inside and seemed pretty low key as it didn’t have any major advertising showcased. This spot seemed like a destination you would find through word-of-mouth, not from online ads or media advertising. One of the first things you’ll notice is the very Asian aesthetics integrated within the stores experience. Bamboo wall dividers, Chinese lamps, and the wooden back wall with Asian wood-pattern cutouts. Chinese storage boxes being displayed within public view is also something that you will see within every Chinese retail store, so no big surprise upon seeing that either.
Representing the Culture: JUICE
The JUICE streetwear shop did live up to its promise of being a streetwear store. There were KAWS toys displayed throughout the floor and had a strong selection of everything streetwear actually. I was really impressed at the sneaker collection they had on display within the store. There was a nice variety of adidas by Alexander Wang, Converse collaborations, Nike sneakers, and adidas shoes.
You can probably guess that the retail prices aren’t as competitive as they are in Western countries. Most were above retail price within the United States. Nothing was fake either. Everything was legitimate from the shoes to apparel.
Many of the apparel brands were of Asian backgrounds as there were some I hadn’t come across before. I’m assuming they were either not distributed through the US or were local brands from Asia. There also seemed to be a mixture of Japanese, Chinese, and Hong Kong culture representations though many of the apparel designs. As with any western retail outlets there were plenty of ball caps, bars upon bars of jackets, trendy accessories, and sneakers showcased. I hung around a bit just to go through all the different brands and get a feel of the unknown territory. Once again as you all suspected prices are much friendlier in the US.
Final Thoughts on JUICE streetwear
In all, the JUICE streetwear outlet was an interesting experience. Was it what I expected? For the most part yes. There were brands I had never come across and the outlay of the store was very inviting. I really appreciated the nice Asian elements throughout the store which gave the experience a nice twist. I was really surprised at what they had for their footwear selection as I did not think they would receive some of the stuff. The store did not seem busy however and I wasn’t really personally impressed at all of the product they were selling. The salespeople were all stuck doing their own thing. Had I not researched, I probably would have never known about the place. A one time stop? A definite yes.
