Alibaba group and others are challenging department stores in China according to a report in Nikkei Asian Review. Scitech shopping center which opened in Beijing in 1992 has put up a sign announcing it will go out of business by the end of the month. Scitech had been a joint venture between a local partner and Japanese retailer, Yaohan, which went bankrupt in 1997. Even after Yaohan pulled out in 1994, the store continued to thrive offering brands not easily available at the time. But competition heated up, sales dropped, and the store's most recent operator, Wangfujing Group, has decided to sell it off to a major real estate company which will run the business with another partner. Another store, Tianqiao Department Store, was put up for auction by the court to pay off creditors. It had been for sale but investors were apparently put off by the minimum asking price of around $65m. Ito-Yokado which opened in Beijing in 1998 is rethinking its strategy. After operating 9 stores in the capital, it closed all but one which it is now transforming into more of a leisure venue by inviting food and drink operators into the premises as well as a gym. Two months ago, Takashimaya decided to close its store in Shanghai and end its operations in China. It cited competition as well as slowing private consumption amid the trade war with the US. The store reported sales last year of 3.2 billion yen, up 0.7%, but an operating loss of 900 million yen, its seventh straight year of losses. It will concentrate on its three other foreign outlets: Ho Chi Minh City (with another possible opening in Viet Nam), Bangkok (which opened in autumn 2018), and Singapore (generating 20% of the company's operating profit).