Some local residents in Shanghai complained yesterday that a store in the Orient Meitha shopping center on Huaihai Road M. is decorated like a prison set up by the Japanese in China during World War II. A middle-aged woman surnamed Zhu said she disliked the style very much.

"Anyone who is about my age will say No to such decorations."

The franchise store is located on the third floor of the shopping mall.

Unlike the common counters which are open to the customers, the store is surrounded by iron gates and a barbwire fence. The situation with the fitting rooms is similar, as they are decorated to look like prisoner cages.

"Worse still, there is a display counter that looks like a Chinese coffin in the store," Zhu complained. The store, named Evil Empire, is a franchised outlet of a Japanese retailer.

Zhang Jie, vice general manager of the shopping mall, said the decoration was designed by the Japanese. This style is very popular in Japan now, Zhang said. And it matches the style of the products in the store very well, he added. All the clothes and bags sold in the shop are rugged.

Liu Lifang, a saleswomen at the store, said the decoration style is unique in the country.

"Many young people, especially designers and writers, like the style very much," she said. "They will always come here to find their inspiration." Leaf lee, 25, a property consultant who visited the store yesterday, said he didn't think there is any problem with the style of the store. "Common decorations can't reflect the special features of the store," said Lee.

But the saleswoman also admitted that elderly shoppers have made many complaints.

(Shanghai Daily January 27, 2005)