Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai Xintiandi, the urban tourist attraction with its well known bar street, is expected to become a shopping mecca for fashion buffs according to the Shanghai Oriental Post today.
A growing number of white-collar employees working for companies on Huaihai Road often shop here because of such fashionable brands as Benetton, French Connection, Nine West, Strawberry Fields and The Gloss available at Xintiandi.
Yan, who works on Huaihai Road, was used to drinking her lunchtime cup of coffee at Xintiandi, but recently she has spent more time hunting for fashionable clothes and accessories. "French Connection, which I have only seen in magazines, has at last opened its first store in Xintiandi, and the shoes of Strawberry Fields from Japan offer extraordinary choice," Yan explained.
"We have done a good job in developing tourism and catering at Xintiandi, so in the near future we will move from the restaurant trade towards fashion retail," said a spokesman from Shui On Land Limited, the real estate developer of Xintiandi.
"Early this year, we have contacted several famous international brands and in May, luxury product exhibitors were invited to visit Xintiandi. At first, they were worried that most people were coming to Xintiandi to either have dinner or go to bars at night; however, our fashion boutiques have proved to be a hit with customers in a short period of time," said the spokeman.
Catering previously accounted for half of the businesses, but a growing number of offices around Xintiandi help the street become yet another shopping paradise in the city, according to one industry analyst.