Shoppers few and far between on Ximen’s Cinema Street
Shoppers few and far between on Ximen’s Cinema Street
2022-09-30
Ximending has long been synonymous with shopping heaven. Before COVID-19, the western Taipei district was full of leisure venues and shopping opportunities that appealed to foreign tourists as well as young people from all over the country. Now with foreign visitors gone, the district has been in crisis. Many storefronts are vacant, and shoppers say it’s not the bustling destination it used to be. Today we visit Cinema Street, a place once known to be a center for popular culture in the capital.
Tang Shih-ching
FTV reporter
Cinema Street in Ximen used to be a key hub of Taipei’s entertainment market. But after the impact of COVID, here on Wuchang Street Section 2, it’s more like a disaster zone, a major casualty in Ximen’s retail crisis.
Big red “Venue for Rent” banners stand over the empty stores. Young people strolling Cinema Street say more stores are empty than open.
Member of public
I do feel it when I walk down here. There are lots of stores closed.
Member of public
It doesn’t feel as lively as it used to. I came here once before.
Member of public
I work here. Lots of stores say they’re up for rent. It has declined. The economy isn’t as good as it was.
There are just a few shoppers wandering the quiet streets. Stores here tend to open later and later in the morning. Once up a time, there was a constant hubbub created with people visiting the Eslite Department Store, Lux Cinema or in89 Cinema. But no more. On this corner spot sits a claw machine arcade; for more than a decade it was a gold merchant, which shut down earlier this year. Over just a few hundred meters, more than 25 store fronts are festooned with “For Rent” signs. All in all, half the stores are empty.
Huang Shu-wei
Real estate expert
Whether it’s because of the pandemic, or the limits that were put on entertainment venues last year during the Level 3 Alert, we can see that the number of visitors to Cinema Street has fallen greatly. Lots of stores in good locations have closed. In the slightly less popular shopping areas back there, the rate of disuse of the stores is more than half.
In the heyday of Cinema Street, the going rent for one ping of retail space could be NT$3,000 a month or more. But post-COVID, one ping goes for NT$1,500 or NT$2,000 a month. Retailers are now longing for borders to reopen to tourists as their only hope to rebuild the shopping paradise that once was.
西門町電影街成空租潮重災區 空租率達50%
2022-09-30
過去年輕人最愛逛的西門町電影街，現在成為商圈空租潮的重災區，整個武昌街二段，短短幾百公尺、就有約25家店面，招租中，空租率達到50%。
[[民視記者 唐詩晴]]
“西門町的電影街，過去可說是台北市娛樂市場的重要樞紐，不過受到疫情重創，台北市的武昌街二段這一帶，成為西門空租潮的重災區”
大紅招租布條高高掛，走一趟電影街，年輕人有感，能逛的店，比空租的店面，還要少。
[[民眾]]
“這樣逛起來是感覺有啦，就是沒有開的店比較多”
[[民眾]]
“感覺沒有之前熱鬧，因為之前我有來過一次”
[[民眾]]
“我是在這邊工作，出租的，就貼轉讓的(店面)很多，是有衰退，(景氣)跟以前比起來是有差”
逛街人潮稀稀落落，附近店家也越開越晚，過去誠品複合式商場、樂聲影城和in89豪華影城所帶來的群聚效益，早不復見。轉角由夾娃娃機店，租了10多年的黃金店鋪，今年也黯然退場。短短幾百公尺，就有多達25家店面，掛起招租廣告，整體空租率高達50%。
[[房市專家 黃舒衛]]
“不管是因為疫情的關係，或者是去年三級(警戒)對於休閒娛樂場所的管制，所以我們看到電影街，這邊的來客量大幅減少，一些黃金店面的空租狀況是最嚴重的，甚至在後面比較冷門的商圈(地段)，空租率甚至已經過半都有”
電影街過去景氣好時，單坪租金行情，能到3千以上，疫情後，每坪落在1500到2000元，現在只能盼著邊境解封，國際觀光客回流，早日找回以往榮景。
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