Xiamen K11 Select draws 2m visitors, sales jump 32% in first week
Xiamen K11 Select, a retail and cultural tourism development in China, has attracted over two million visitors and recorded a 32 per cent week-on-week sales increase since its opening. The project, described as China’s first wetland-conservation-focused development, houses around 200 brands and feat
Xiamen K11 Select has welcomed more than two million visitors and recorded a 32 per cent week-on-week increase in sales since its opening, according to K11 by AC of ALMAD Group.
Jointly developed with state-owned Xiamen Rail Transit, the project is described by the group as China’s first retail, arts and cultural tourism development centered on wetland conservation. It builds on the “cultural commerce” model pioneered by K11 founder and ALMAD Group chairman Adrian Cheng Chi-kong, expanding the concept into what the company calls a Cultural Tourism District, or CTD.
Covering about 95,000 square metres, the development houses around 200 brands, including about 80 making their national, provincial or regional debuts. Nearly 90 per cent of its stores were open at launch. The project also features a cluster of restaurants led by Michelin-starred chefs, including what the group said are the first Zi Gui Xuan in China, the first Yunjingli in Fujian and the first Quanhui Guan in mainland China.
Beauty and lifestyle sales rose by about 50 per cent week-on-week, while three restaurants led by Michelin-starred chefs recorded occupancy rates of nearly 100 per cent. Members of the group’s ARewards loyalty program accounted for almost 40 per cent of total sales.
Cheng said the project’s early operating performance reflected the development of K11’s “cultural commerce” model over the past 16 years. He said Xiamen K11 Select also marked a further evolution of the model through the CTD concept, bringing together cultural commerce, urban renewal and wetland conservation.
Jiang Ruiyuan, deputy general manager of Xiamen Rail Transit Group, said the project combined the group’s vision of “art, people and nature” with the city’s character, extending the role of the metro beyond transportation to support commercial and urban development. Located at the Wuyuan Bay Wetland Park transit-oriented development hub, the project connects its retail areas with the wetland park and an ecological viewing area through the “Sky Ribbon,” a one-kilometre elevated walkway.
The site is also hosting two debut exhibitions, including British neo-pop artist Philip Colbert’s Lobster Wonderland, featuring a 10-metre-high inflatable lobster at the wetland park. LINE FRIENDS is also staging what the developer said is its first pop-up experience in China to mark the brand’s 15th anniversary.