By Wang Lei and Cheng Zhongyu | wuhudaily.cn

Global retail giant ALDI has signed agreements to open two stores in Wuhu — one at Yaohan in Jinghu District and the other at Intime Department Store in Yijiang District — marking the brand's debut in Anhui Province and a milestone in the city's "first-store economy". Meanwhile, Wuhu Yintai inPARK, where first stores account for 35 percent of tenants, has become the hottest check-in spot on Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street.

First stores as a magnet

In June, Wuhu Yintai inPARK opened with a composite layout of indoor malls, open blocks and eco-parks, forming the centerpiece of the pedestrian street's lake-and-street integrated commercial landscape. Seventy-five brands, or 35 percent of all tenants, made their city debut, spanning dining and fashion labels that are rapidly reshaping local lifestyles. The UR first store generated over 2 million yuan in its first month. The standard outlet, with displays featuring Wuhu cultural elements and roughly 1,000 SKUs tailored to the local market, is already considering a second location.

Zhu Lida, general manager of Wuhu Yintai inPARK, said first stores embody uniqueness and scarcity, making them a magnet for foot traffic and consumption. The project's brand mix covers all formats: the first Hema Mini fills the gap for a high-end fresh supermarket in southern Anhui; youth brands such as Huawei Smart Life, Insta360, M Stand and Pop Mart cluster on the street; and dining outlets including Niu New Sukiyaki, Dongsheng Buffet, Maluji and The Boots draw queues averaging over two hours.

As Anhui's second-largest city and a provincial sub-center, Wuhu is upgrading its urban profile. The influx of first stores signals both municipal growth and a maturing business ecosystem. Daily footfall on Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street has topped 100,000, with the number and caliber of first stores serving as a measure of the city's commercial reach and consumer market pull.

Global giants land, homegrown brands expand

German retail giant ALDI's dual-store entry into Wuhu reflects its strategy to deepen roots in the Yangtze River Delta and shows the city's first-store economy has reached the level needed to attract international players. A pioneer of the hard-discount model with operations in over 20 countries, ALDI combines global sourcing with local supply chains across fresh produce, baked goods and household essentials. The Wuhu project is slated to open by the end of 2026, complementing existing retail and energizing the consumer market.

Local players are also making strides. In June 2025, the first Three Squirrels community store opened in Wuhu, generating over 1 million yuan in three days. Its first flagship at Wuhu Golden Eagle hit 1.26 million yuan in the same period, reaching some 24,000 nearby households. Positioned as an affordable community supermarket, the store offers freshly baked goods, beverages, cooked food, fresh produce, daily necessities and snacks through direct delivery from its central kitchen and in-store preparation. The brand has evolved from a snack specialist into a full-range private-label retailer. By mid-May 2026, the chain had grown to over 35 outlets — flagship, standard and mini formats — with Anhui as the hub and extending into Jiangsu. Its first national central kitchen sits in Wuhu's Yijiang snack food industrial park, covering a radius of more than 100 kilometers.

Wuhu's first-store economy is proving to be a two-way street: it draws global giants such as ALDI while pushing homegrown brands like Three Squirrels onto the national stage, evolving from individual retail debuts into a two-way flow of commercial vitality.

First-store matrix takes shape, boosting commercial capacity

The cluster of first stores at Yintai inPARK, ALDI's dual-store layout and Three Squirrels' outward replication sketch a first-store economy that attracts external brands while nurturing local ones and flourishes on multiple fronts. ALDI's decision to straddle Jinghu and Yijiang — the former home to hundreds of thousands of residents and office workers, the latter a growing, diverse consumer base — endorses both the scale of Wuhu's market and the brand's confidence in the city's development trajectory.

The numbers back up the buzz. Wuhu has attracted nearly 400 city-level first stores in recent years, including 6 in East China, 88 in Anhui Province and 107 in southern Anhui. In the first half of 2026 alone, the city added over 130 first-store brands. Total retail sales of consumer goods hit 212.06 billion yuan in 2025, up 5.1 percent year on year.

The first-store economy answers a fundamental question: What allows a city to attract, retain and grow brands? The answer lies in the renewed bustle of the pedestrian street, in ALDI's strategic bet on Wuhu, and in the confidence of local firms expanding beyond the city.

A first store is not the finish line but the starting line. When global giants put down roots and local brands venture outward, Wuhu is building not just incremental consumption but deep-seated vitality in its business ecosystem. In the marathon of urban commercial upgrading, the city is picking up speed.