What Does the Nayuki Flagship Closure Mean for Coffee Culture?

Nayuki has closed its largest flagship store, Nayuki Life, in Shenzhen Coastal City, with Pop Mart set to take over the space. The store, which opened in 2019 as Nayuki Dream Factory with a 20 million yuan investment and 1,000 square meters, offered baked goods, tea drinks, coffee, craft beer, Western cuisine, and retail. The lease expired and was not renewed, according to customer service.

The closure matters because the store was a hub for coffee culture and specialty coffee collaborations, including a partnership with Shanghai coffee brand AOKKA. After Dream Factory closed in May 2022, Nayuki Life opened in August 2022 but dropped dining and alcohol services. Similar store closures have appeared in Guangzhou, Zhuhai, and Nanchang, signaling a possible retrenchment in multi-brand retail concepts.

The largest flagship store "Nayuki Life," created by Nayuki in Shenzhen Coastal City, has recently been blocked by hoarding, confirming that it has quietly withdrawn, and the original site will be taken over by Pop Mart. The store was formerly the world's largest flagship store "Nayuki Dream Factory," launched in 2019 with an investment of 20 million yuan, covering 1,000 square meters and offering a diverse range of products including baked goods, tea drinks, coffee, craft beer, Western cuisine, and retail. After Dream Factory closed in May 2022, "Nayuki Life" debuted in a new model in August of the same year. Although it retained a bookstore and coffee brand collaboration, it canceled the dining and alcohol services. Nearby residents reported that the store did brisk business on weekdays and was packed on holidays, and its sudden closure surprised many. Official customer service responded that the lease expired and was not renewed, and there is no news yet on whether a store will open at another location. Meanwhile, news of Nayuki store closures has also emerged in Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Nanchang, and other places.

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Recently, many netizens have posted on social platforms stating that Nayuki's largest store in Shenzhen Coastal City, "Nayuki Life," has quietly closed. Judging from the on-site hoarding, after Nayuki withdrew, the space will be taken over by Pop Mart.

Back in November 2019, Nayuki invested 20 million yuan to open the world's largest flagship store, "Nayuki Dream Factory," in Coastal City, Nanshan, Shenzhen. In this 1,000-square-meter space, customers could experience a variety of products and services such as baked goods, tea drinks, coffee, craft beer, Western cuisine, and retail.

According to the official statement at the time, Dream Factory served two functions: first, as a place for the R&D department to test new products and new ideas; second, to focus on promoting handcrafted fresh-baked goods and freshly brewed tea drinks. However, just two and a half years after opening, this "Nayuki Dream Factory," which the brand had high hopes for, announced its closure in May 2022.

In August of the same year, "Nayuki Life," which took over from Dream Factory, officially opened its doors to customers. Unlike before, "Nayuki Life" not only removed distinctive services such as dining and alcohol, but also brought in 15 other brands, including selections from the well-known Guangzhou bookstore brand Fangsuo and the Shanghai coffee brand AOKKA.

Although "Nayuki Life" is less diverse in its product offerings than before, according to nearby residents, the store has always been popular, with people filling the seats inside and outside on holidays and other periods, and a steady stream of customers coming to check in and visit.

They also mentioned that "Nayuki Life" is spacious, with a row of eye-catching green sun umbrellas placed at the entrance year-round, making it highly recognizable from afar and a unique sight in the Coastal City commercial area. Therefore, in people's eyes, "Nayuki Life" is not only the brand's largest flagship store, but also an impressive "landmark store."

For this reason, when people discovered that the conspicuous green sign was no longer lit and the landmark store had suddenly been blocked by hoarding, local residents could hardly hide their surprise and posted one after another asking why the store had ceased operations without any notice. "Passed by today, Nayuki is already gone," "I was just drinking tea there yesterday, and today I went and was stunned—this was way too fast," "No way, I was just eating in there a couple of days ago??"

As for the reason for the closure, many speculated that the rent for this oversized store was too high and the brand decided to withdraw because it could not bear the lease pressure. Some users also noticed that searching for "Nayuki Life" on the official mini-program displays the words "Please look forward to it," leading them to speculate that Nayuki may simply be reducing the store size and renovating rather than permanently closing this flagship store of special significance.

However, these claims all come from netizens and have not been confirmed by the official side. But a certain public account has learned from Shenzhen Coastal City customer service that "Nayuki Life" did not renew its lease after it expired; when asked whether Nayuki would later open a store elsewhere in the mall, customer service said there was no news for the time being.

It is worth mentioning that there are also many posts on social media about Nayuki store closures. According to netizen reports, the Guangzhou Huacheng Hui South District store, Zhuhai Fuhuali store, and Nanchang Parkson B Hall store have all closed recently without warning, catching nearby residents off guard.

From the heavily invested "Nayuki Dream Factory," to the business model-transformed "Nayuki Life," to the quiet end of its largest flagship store today, many residents who witnessed this rise and fall cannot help but sigh emotionally, lamenting that the boundless glory of Nayuki, the "top star of the tea drink world," has ultimately faded away.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.