The run-down exterior of the unused shopping mall Photos: Yang Hui/GT

A mall staff member stands ready to help but there are no inquiries for her these days.

Mannequins stare blankly out of the window in a deserted clothing store.

A row of empty buildings marks out the ghost town that used to be the mall.

Lack of maintenance shows on this part of the complex.

In the underground parking lot there are only empty chairs and piles of rubbish.

 

It was hailed as one of Shanghai's largest shopping experiences with customers able to stroll through more than 300 stores packed with premium international brands. Not far away is the ancient town of Fengjing, a popular attraction in southwestern Shanghai.

But the 410,000-square-meter Shanghai Global Outlets Park, which opened in 2008 on Zhufeng Highway, Jinshan district, in a blaze of publicity and promises, now stands almost empty, with most of its shops unleased. Fewer than a dozen shops are still open in the 380,000-square-meter retail area. There are no customers to be seen in the shabby run-down stores offering luxury brand items from Gucci and Dior at discounted prices. The outlets' parking lot which spreads over 20,000 square meters remains empty and unused.

Shanghai woman Ms Wang bought a shop here in 2003 as an investment, and was promised that she could be making money once her shop was leased. The 200-square-meter shop cost her 680,000 yuan ($109,978). "It was a big sum then. But my shop was never leased out," she said. "I have tried to sell my shop, but no one wants to buy it."

When the Global Times called the mall's official phone number, no one answered. The mobile phone it listed on its official website was answered by someone who said they had nothing to do with the shopping center.

The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision said last month that it was working on regulations to control the increasing number of factory outlets in the city.

Eastday.com said that China has over 400 factory outlet shopping malls, more than the US. Most of them opened in the past decade.