Ghost Malls in China’s Once Teeming Megacities

(Bloomberg) --  

Across China, thousands of stores have been shuttered, shopping malls are deserted and travel is heavily restricted in a dramatic effort to contain the novel coronavirus that has exploded into an epidemic in just a few weeks. Ripples from the health crisis are spreading far beyond the epicenter in the locked-down province of Hubei. Hundreds of miles away, once-busy megacities like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong are now sights of desolated streets, empty subway cars and runs on toilet paper at supermarkets. And when Chinese consumers stay home, global brands from Nike Inc. to Starbucks Corp. are hit by the aftershocks. Take a look at pictures before and after the outbreak:

Apple Store, Shanghai 

Apple has closed all of its 42 retail stores in the country. Last month the iPhone maker, which made about 17% of its sales in Greater China in fiscal 2019, gave a wider-than-usual revenue range for the current quarter, due to the uncertainty created by the virus outbreak.

Casino Lisboa, Macau

Casinos in Macau, the Chinese territory that’s the world’s biggest gambling hub, were closed under a two-week suspension. It’s the longest-ever halt and only the second such instance, after a typhoon in 2018 forced a 33-hour shutdown.

Starbucks Coffee Shop, Shanghai

Starbucks has closed more than half of its coffee shops in mainland China -- at least 2,000 locations. The Seattle-based coffee chain maintained its 2020 forecast but said the projections don’t include the impact of the closings because it can’t yet calculate it.

Airport, Hong Kong

Airlines around the globe have halted service to and from China, one of the world’s busiest travel markets. Cancellations have spread to major hubs such as Beijing and Hong Kong as carriers from British Airways to Singapore Airlines and United Airlines have suspended flights.

Subway, Beijing

Thousands of businesses, from local companies to international banks, have shut down their corporate offices and asked employees to work remotely, in what is probably one of the world’s largest work-from-home experiments. 
 

Supermarkets, Hong Kong

Toilet rolls were unavailable in supermarkets in parts of Hong Kong after posts showing empty shelves and shoppers lining up to snag rolls circulated on social media. It fueled the latest shortage in a city where products from rice to hand sanitizers and condoms are also vanishing from stores.

Shopping Mall, Hong Kong 

The human toll from the virus continues to rise, with more than 31,000 infected and more than 600 deaths in mainland China. As of Feb. 7 in Hong Kong, 25 infections have been confirmed, with one fatality. Most of the city’s residents are wearing masks, schools are closed and stores and restaurants are struggling as people stay at home. 

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Eugene Reznik at ereznik5@bloomberg.net, Sally Bakewell

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