"I like to find those inconspicuous corners of the city center and give it something new."

Fan Chengjun from Wenzhou likes to collect old houses.

In the first few years of coming to Shanghai in 2001, what he did was to buy old houses and then sublet them after simple decoration. Most of these old houses with low prices and high rents were in the original "French concession" such as Changshu Road and Anfu Road. In 2007, he found that the operating space of the house was getting smaller and smaller, so he focused on the larger industrial plant. Jing'an set Center and Tianzifang TaiKangTerrace were his projects.

Bailemen Metropolis, which is adjacent to Jing'an Temple, is Fan Chengjun's latest renovation project. Speaking of the Bailemen metropolis, you may think of the dazzling Shanghai nightlife of the 1930s and 1940s, but now 1728 Nanjing West Road is another new way to open up modern life in Shanghai.

Fan Chengjun won the right to transform and use the four-story space here.

AUNN CAF É sos, which opened on the first floor here at the end of last year, was the first to attract attention. You will find AUNN CAF É in in many posts such as "11 secluded cafes in Shanghai" and "taste buds map of Shanghai Independent Cafe".

There is no shortage of chain brands everywhere in this city, and new independent coffee shops emerge every year. According to the statistics of the New first-tier City Research Institute in February this year, there are 5296 cafes in Shanghai.

AUNN CAF É occupies a conspicuous position, just across the street from Jing'an Temple, just across the street from Huidefeng International Square.

When referring to this cafe, many people will mention the unique cork shell with coffee cups, and more professional coffee lovers will say that the Zhendian treasure here is a Dutch ice drip machine worth 20, 000 to 30, 000. it is said that there are now two in China, and some Robotics may recognize other good products that are excited. "minimalist industrial style" and "frigid style" are also the most frequently used keywords when people talk about the design of AUNN CAF É.

The person who runs this brand and space design is Sun Junliang. Graduated from the visual communication department of Musano University of Fine Arts in Tokyo, he worked as a creative studio, M LAB., an independent magazine, NOT, and now has a design studio, WONDULLFUL STUDIO. He designed logo and wrapping paper for the Beast florist and opened a design boutique called WONDULLFUL ARCHIVE in a restaurant in the Shanghai Waitan YWCA building in early 2014.

Fan Chengjun is a regular there and has bought a lot of small things there. It was in 2014 that Fan Chengjun launched the AUNN CAF É project, inviting Sun Junliang to do brand and space design together.

The tall street terrace is lined with two rows of small round tables and chairs, and many guests are willing to sit in a noisy environment with heavy traffic when the weather is fine. On the inside is a large area of floor-to-ceiling windows, while the interior is a space dominated by black, white and gray, with individual seats printed in full 3D, which looks quite special and unostentatious, but it is said that the cost of each one is about 4000 yuan.

On the other hand, the name of AUNN, which seems to be a bit of a mouthful, was accidentally come up with by Sun Junliang and Fan Chengjun during a discussion. Taking apart the initials one by one, it is "All You Need Now". The cafe is only part of this compound space. AUNN is the name for the overall four-story space. The second floor is WONDULLFUL DEPT, the designer's shop of Sun Junliang. The third floor is a multi-purpose and flexible exhibition and activity space, and the fourth floor is a planned restaurant space.

This is not the first time Fan Chengjun has tried to do a compound format project. Tian Zifang TaiKangTerrace, located at 169Jianguo Zhong Road, is another example. It is converted from an old warehouse, including Belgian beer restaurants like KAIBA, The Sanctuary Spa, Shanghai's first terrace Spa beauty salon, as well as ThePlumpOyster_ Plum Oyster Bar, Jugend Jurgen Art Space and cossetta Art Shop.

In recent years, the commercial space of multi-format has gradually become a trend, not to mention that the combination of bookstores and cafes has become standard, and even luxury brands such as Ralph Lauren, LV and Gucci have opened restaurants in the stores.

Today, online shopping is increasingly becoming the mainstream mode of consumption, single physical commercial retail space does not have much competitive advantage in the face of lower prices, massive choices, efficient logistics and convenient services. this may be a reason for the continuous emergence of compound format space. It needs to have a clear attraction, whether it's trying on clothes while drinking coffee, listening to lectures while buying books, or walking around a home store for dessert, how to make people stay in space and then spend willingly is important.

It was Fan Chengjun's idea to open a designer store upstairs in AUNN CAF É. At that time, Sun Junliang's small shop outside Tanyuan was still called WONDULLFUL ARCHIVE. Fan Chengjun said: "in fact, this kind of store is quite good, or we will build a big one on the second floor of AUNN CAF É. The good things should be taken out and shared with everyone." Sun Junliang was also thinking that in the past, this small store was indeed "more capricious and more casual," all of which he picked up from his journey and life experience. that's why this design store, which occupies a luxury area of nearly 400 square meters, opened in April this year.

Go up the pure black staircase behind the cafe on the first floor, and open along the fully automatic transparent door on the second floor, which is the space of WONDULLFUL DEPT. The facade composed of a whole row of floor-to-ceiling windows makes plenty of natural light pour in, making the whole shop particularly transparent and bright.

We have previously introduced RESEE, a life grocery store on the third floor of Huaihai, Shanghai, which sells nearly 4000 items, mostly well-known Nordic and Japanese design brands. In contrast, the goods sold by WONDULLFUL DEPT are more minority and refined, the procurement process is basically contracted by Sun Junliang, and the two staff members of the procurement department are only responsible for follow-up and some chores with the brand.

At present, WONDULLFUL DEPT has nearly 1,000 products on sale under 40 brands, such as Gillmechanical company toothpaste extruder, Crowcanyon pink cup set, Plain&Simple aromatherapy, paper sailboat kites, oversized color trash cans, and Plain&Simple aromatherapy. After that, Sun Junliang will also consider introducing pajamas, towels, toiletries and other categories.

There is another LOLA JAMES HAPPER cooperation limited edition scented candle, which is a limited edition scented candle specially found by Sun Junliang to find his French friends and LOLA JAMES HAPPER brand for the new store, which is called THE WONDULLFUL DEPT. It is said that the brand is characterized by a smell to represent a particular scene, and considering that the store is sitting near Jing'an Temple, Sun Junliang communicated with the perfumer to produce a sandalwood flavor supplemented by a relatively fresh fragrance candle.

Hidden at the end of the store is the first independent store of women's clothing designer JINNNN in China. The manager, Jin Shengyu, is a good friend of Sun Junliang, and Sun Junliang is also one of the brand partners.

Compared with many small and beautiful designer shops, WONDULLFUL DEPT sells more items to meet daily functions than decorative works of art. To put it bluntly, there are things closely related to life from getting up early to going to bed late, such as ballpoint pens, notebooks, fragrances of several hundred yuan, to 1950s retro wood cabinets originally produced in Indonesia and designed by Dutch designers.

He said that the standard of selection is in his mind, functionality is the number one option, while beauty is something that "doesn't explain much". "it's in my eyes, in my 40 years of experience."

In addition to the two stores that have been officially opened to the outside world, ALLUNEEDNOW is also attracting brands and strategic exhibitors to come here in different ways to seek cooperation. As we mentioned earlier, whether it is a cafe or a design boutique, it shows the side of Shanghai's modern lifestyle, which is very much like a fashion gathering place.

For example, the current cable design exhibition invited by some brands from March to April this year is located on the third floor. This is very much like a design statement by AUNN. The more than 500 exhibits found are independent design goods, representing the combination of aesthetic taste and practicality of the designer.

One weekend in June, New Balance put the limited launch of the classic Qianzhishi suit in the WONDULLFUL DEPT store, along with a special exhibition on the third floor. In the past two months, the established British folding car brand Brompton has occupied a corner of the AUNN CAF É in in the form of a limited store, and during the limited period, the cafe has also launched a limited edition 200 fold earbag set inspired by Brompton's iconic three-step folding step.

Back in the years of housing renovation, Fan Chengjun mastered the designer's point of view, and he knew what kind of design would add value to his assets, which helped him quickly accumulate wealth in the first few years when he came to Shanghai.

The same is true of the AUNN project.

He and Sun Junliang spent nearly two years pondering the details behind the vast expanse of blank industrial style AUNN CAF É, ranging from cork coffee cups to 3D printed seats. Before the coffee shop officially opened, the mini pop-up free coffee and trial operation phase was planned for about a month or so.

Although the display design of the WONDULLFUL DEPT store on the second floor is simple and low-key, it costs 400000 yuan to lay a specially customized cement floor.

In the Jing'an Temple business district, which is full of famous shops and Chao brands, the rental cost is not low, and AUNN does not "save money" in terms of design costs. with regard to format planning, apart from the fact that AUNN CAF É on on the first floor has quickly become an online celebrity in the coffee industry, the designer shop on the second floor and the exhibition space on the third floor seem to be inefficient ways to use the ping.

However, in Sun Junliang's view, it is too short-sighted to consider the success of WONDULLFUL DEPT in a cycle of one or two years.

Not long ago, relevant parts of the government of Jing'an District visited AUNN and gave Sun Junliang a lot of confidence in its position as a pilot project for the protection of historic buildings and the development of cultural and creative industries, which means that it will at least be a shop that can be operated for a long time.

"as long as it doesn't lose money, it's a successful business for me."