In the small shop on the street corner, there is the most authentic commercial pulse of the city hidden. When Guiyang continues to attract young customers, the first to feel the warmth are often the small shops of over ten square meters in the deep alleys, which are flexible, sharp, and fragile. The cultural and tourism dividends, policy relaxation, and consumption iteration converge here, and countless small shops are emerging from the streets and alleys. We dissect the commercial microcirculation of this city through small shops: how traffic takes root, how small businesses grow, and how they live longer and go further after the hustle and bustle dissipates.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the flow of people in Baisha Lane gradually eased, and the hustle and bustle of the bustling city briefly subsided.
In JuJu Coffee's small shop of over ten square meters, employee Ren Zhiyuan meticulously wiped off the water stains on the bar and turned around to start a new round of production. A cup of "glutinous rice dumpling" specially brewed coffee wafts with a fresh aroma in the alleys.
This mini store hidden in the alleys of the old city is a vivid epitome of the local new consumer industry in Guiyang.
During this year's May Day holiday, the store sold nearly 200 cups in a single day, and the customer flow reached its peak. From the first one person store in the street to the third store to be opened, JuJu Coffee has developed an economic curve from budding to steady expansion with local creativity and youth expression.
Local flavor innovation is the core password for JuJu to quickly gain popularity. The quarterly new product "Nuomi Tuanzi" has consistently ranked on the store's must visit list since its first week on the shelves. The R&D team skillfully selects Guizhou's local glutinous rice wine, which blends with the flavor of premium coffee. It has a sweet, sour, smooth and mellow taste, and a long-lasting sticky aroma, earning it the nickname "drinkable fluid glutinous rice" by many consumers.
This cup of special flavor sells not only the taste of coffee, but also the local flavor of Guizhou that can be perceived and experienced.
Prior to this, the popular item "Sour Soup American Style" had already gained popularity. The team boldly combines the unique flavor of Guizhou Mountain Wild Sour Soup with Papua New Guinea cold brew coffee. Seemingly unconventional combinations, accurately hitting the curiosity and social sharing needs of young people.
The price of around 30 yuan per cup has become the threshold for tasting specialty creative coffee. In the current era of clock in economy and shared consumption, product design with inherent topicality, visual appeal, and dissemination gives small shops a natural advantage in traffic, transforming product features into tangible commercial value.
Since the beginning of this year, the performing arts economy in Guiyang has been booming, with concerts and music festivals landing intensively, continuously attracting traffic to small shops in the city's streets and alleys.
In Ren Zhiyuan's intuitive experience, the popularity of the small shop's customer flow has continued to rise since this year's Qingming Festival. Watching performances, strolling through old streets, drinking special dishes, and taking photos have become a new consumption process for young tourists visiting Guiyang.
During last week's GAI concert, the customer flow before and after the store was significantly higher than on regular weekends. The entertainment craze was deeply linked with the economy of small shops in the streets, achieving mutual flow of customers and sharing of popularity.
Empowering small shops with cultural tourism and performing arts is both an opportunity and a test. Under the support of traffic, niche specialty stores quickly break through, gain exposure and sales; However, the fluctuation of customer flow with large-scale events has also led to the characteristic of "relying on the weather to make a living" in the operation of small shops, resulting in unstable popularity and unsustainable customer sources.
The cultural and tourism boom has a very direct impact on small shops in Guiyang, providing us with a good living environment for local small shops, "Ren Zhiyuan admitted. Behind the excitement, there is always pressure. While the whole network is discussing the popularity of Guiyang coffee, industry competition, user aesthetics, and consumer demand are all upgrading. It is easy to become popular for a while, but difficult to become popular in the long run.
Facing the peak of holiday passenger flow, JuJu calmly responded with a "small yet refined, agile yet stable" business model.
During peak customer traffic, the store immediately adjusts its manpower flexibly, with all staff on duty and store owners filling their positions, ensuring production speed and service quality in the simplest and most efficient way possible.
In a space of more than ten square meters, two small tables and a sofa against the wall are already full, and more young people are holding coffee and standing in the alley chatting and taking photos. The narrow storefront space instead creates a unique sense of scarcity, and the scene of queuing for check-in continues to create topics, allowing small shops in the alleys to spread their own popularity.
From the first store in Baisha Lane, to the store in Ayuyun Warehouse, and then to the upcoming new largest store by the Qingyun Market River, JuJu's expansion pace is carefully restrained, step by step in line with the urban consumption trend, and steadily completes the brand layout.
In addition to coffee production, cultural and creative industries are another means for small shops to establish their brands and retain their memories. Since its opening, the brand has adhered to original design and hand crafted peripheral products. The stickers, canvas bags, and small accessories with a unified bright tone are highly consistent with the visual style of the store, becoming a "Guiyang memory" that tourists take away.
The consumption of a cup of coffee is a one-time experience, while the retention of a cultural and creative product is a long-term brand exposure. In the new era of rapidly changing traffic, JuJu uses cultural and creative industries as a link to turn short-term check-in popularity into long-term and stable brand recognition, continuously accumulating brand assets for local small stores.
Behind the steady growth of local small shops is the precise support of urban policies. In 2026, Guiyang will continue to optimize its business environment and implement the "one license, multiple addresses" registration reform, with 82 business entities enjoying policy dividends; Yunyan District has launched a "one-stop" integrated service for coffee shops, reducing the processing time by over 60%. The synchronized launch of the province wide "Youth Small Shop" entrepreneurship assistance project provides protection for young entrepreneurs.
Tax incentives and financial support are direct pain points for small shops. Policies such as exempting small-scale taxpayers from value-added tax and halving the personal income tax for individual businesses have been implemented, and multiple coffee shops have cumulatively enjoyed tax reductions of tens of thousands of yuan. Nanming District's "Enterprise Home" accurately promotes customized financial services such as subsidized loans, providing relief and confidence for small and micro businesses.
From becoming a popular street vendor to steadily expanding, from increasing traffic to solidifying the brand, JuJu is standing at the threshold of transitioning from being seen to being sustainable. As expected by JuJu Coffee Manager Chen Le, 'Let more consumers see our small shop and truly turn traffic into popularity'.
Guizhou Daily Tianyan News reporter
Wang Danling, Mao Xiaocui
Editor Wang Xiaoting and Zhang Ting
Second instance Yang Tao
Third instance Pang Bo
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