In Taipei leases for retail spaces are long but the staying power of many start ups is not so great. Because of this there are many vacant retail locations around the city, some in prime locations. What to do with these spaces? Well one person came up with a great idea that is now followed all over the city.
Basically at one point somebody figured that they could go to the lease holder and offer to pay them a greatly reduced rental fee for a month or two. This way the lease holder isn't losing as much money and can still look for somebody to take over the lease long term. But what about the person who rented it for a month, what does he use it for?
Well basically the person sets up a very crude shop that is a lot like Marshalls or TJ Maxx in the states. Basically they buy the excess from department stores, or their left overs, etc. And then sell them in these one month shops for a discounted price. Then the month is up and the goods are gone and they go to find another place to rent for a month, and buy more clothes and goods to sell.
It's a pretty clever idea. And they can get some pretty great locations as well. One great spot always seems to be near a subway station that is in a residential area. In the evenings they are always full of women who are on their way home form work. It usually doesn't take long before all the better items are gone.
The one above is of one that was selling mostly umbrellas but with a few other things. You can see from the lack of crowd that it's not a big draw. Also you can notice that it at least appears that prices have been going down and down over time. This goes well with their one to to month time limit, the sign also says that it will be gone after 4 days, but who knows this could also be a ploy. Usually these types of shops are either solely women's shows, or solely women's clothing, but sometimes they will be men's fashions or just jeans or whatever else they can get their hands on.
