The counters have been used for 40 years, and salespeople are still using abacuses... Once you step into Yong’an Road Department Store in downtown Beijing, you feel like you have traveled back in time to a China that many people have forgotten and where old items are available that can be found nowhere else.

Opened 59 years ago, the state-owned store is one of the few shops still in business dating back that far. It mainly sells daily products, such as wooden storage rack, cloth shoes, 4.5 yuan (about 0.65 US dollars) hand cream and 9 yuan (about 1.3 US dollars) facial cream, which are all part of a shared memory for much of China's older generation.

With a wide variety of goods of practical use and low price, the old store has many diehard fans, even as Beijing has become an international city with no shortage of fancy shopping malls where all big international brands from Louis Vuitton to Uniqlo and Nike are available. 

Personal stories about the old store are plentiful however. According to a report from China News Service, 70-year-old granny, surnamed Cao, who moved to another part of the city, still takes a bus for more than an hour to get to the store every now and then, “I lived nearby when I was a kid and bought products from here. They are of very good quality. I love them.” 

Qiao Yanxiong, the store manager said they never compromised their standards, “the store is located in a residential area and is designated to serve the neighborhood. After all these years, we always stick to the original style.”

“When my wife and I traveled to south China in 2008, we saw clam oil (a moisturizing cream) was on sale, I was so excited that I immediately contacted the factory and introduced them to our store,” Qiao continued, and the cream later proved to be a great success.

Even though the store specializes in old brands, young people in their 20s and 30s, attracted by its reputation, also come for domestically made products in recent years.  

However, the store is facing daunting problems. For example, some products are no longer in production, and as salespeople getting older, fewer young people are taking their vacancies. 

61-year-old salesman Zhang Zhiguo has been working at the store for more than four decades. He said a lot of his colleagues are in their 50s already, “The monthly salary is relatively low at roughly 3, 000 yuan (about 435 US dollars), so the young people are reluctant to work here.”

He added that the store has no advantages compared with online shopping and big super market in terms of price and sales model. 

The store has tried to open its online business, but thin profit and short of hands are the hurdles. Store manager Qiao said such old stores are important for keeping part of Chinese culture alive. They are currently thinking of activities to mark its 60th birthday in the coming year, in an attempt to boost sales.