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Taidong Hardware Store: The Cross-border Integration of "Coffee + Hardware"

Time-honored Brands: Innovating Models to Attract Young Consumer Groups and Break the Boundaries of

2025-09-04 15:07

Upholding Tradition and Innovating, Time-honored Brands Open Up New Markets

Taidong Hardware Store in Qingdao is the only "China Time-honored Brand" in the national hardware industry. Currently, the hardware products in the store cover 10 major categories and more than 30,000 varieties, including sanitary ware, architectural hardware, and plumbing pipes. In addition to the best-selling sanitary ware and household accessories, it also mainly engages in the supply of comprehensive hardware materials, covering production line accessories, property maintenance tools and other fields.

Surprisingly, the mellow aroma of coffee lingers in this space surrounded by metal tools and mechanical parts. Through the cross-border integration of "coffee + hardware", this traditional hardware store has created a compound space that is both tough and warm, professional and casual - "T-space Screw Coffee", bringing consumers an unprecedented experience.

"'T' stands for Taidong, and 'space' implies a coffee space belonging to the hardware store. We hope to capture the new needs of consumers of different age groups and types, and expand new consumption scenarios through the compound model of 'space innovation + product cross-border'," introduced Zhao Yang, chairman of "T-space Screw Coffee".

As early as the 1990s, Starbucks put forward the concept of "the Third Place". With coffee as a social link, it provides consumers with a leisure and social place beyond home and workplace, conveying culture, exchanging emotions and creating experiences. Zhao Yang also had in-depth considerations when integrating the coffee space into Taidong Hardware Store. On the one hand, it broadens the market by virtue of the social attribute of coffee, opening a new window for the offline hardware store; on the other hand, through cross-border integration, Taidong Hardware Store actively expands new consumption space.
"Offline stores not only allow customers to experience products on the spot, but also meet the emergency needs for household and decoration accessories in a timely manner. Facing the impact of e-commerce, we have always adhered to high-quality offline products and abided by the craftsmanship and reputation of the 'time-honored brand'. The coffee space has become our new window for promotion and communication, allowing more people to understand us intuitively and naturally," Zhao Yang said. Compared with the low-frequency consumption of household hardware products, coffee has a lower price and a higher repurchase rate, which can attract a wider range of customers, especially enhancing young consumers' awareness of the store.
The reporter saw on the spot that in the 600-square-meter two-story "experience store", the coffee shared space has become an important part. In addition to customers purchasing hardware, coffee orders are also in an endless stream. The menu includes Italian coffee, specialty coffee, decaf drinks and hand-brewed coffee, and also launches seasonal limited desserts and mooncake gift boxes, making the hardware store more "stylish". Through the model of "space innovation + product cross-border", this traditional store has begun to transform into an experiential comprehensive space.

Innovating in Philosophy: Integrating "Utility" and "Fun"

This is no ordinary coffee space. Here, practicality and fun complement each other, with traces of the old Qingdao hardware store evident everywhere.

In terms of decoration style, the store shows great ingenuity. It not only retains the industrial style of the original hardware store but also integrates the comfortable elements of a modern coffee shop, creating a unique spatial aesthetic. Its product design also features distinct cross-border characteristics. For example, the names of coffee products are full of "tough-core" vibes: "Jack Hydraulic Americano" is actually 1-liter concentrated coffee, symbolizing boosting energy and sharing joy; the shape of bungeo-ppang (Korean-style honey cookies) incorporates hardware elements like screws and hammers, as well as ocean-themed elements such as seashells and mermaids, making them vivid and interesting. Products like "Tsingtao Beer Americano" and "Laoshan Iced Lemon Tea" highlight local characteristics and showcase Qingdao’s native culture. These creative products are not only popular in the store but also have become viral hits on social media, attracting many customers to visit specifically to take photos and share their experiences.
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the store has also launched the "Moonlight Treasure Box" mooncake gift set. With a red toolbox as the outer packaging, the center of the gift box features the futuristic IP character "Dingding". Inside, in addition to mooncakes, coffee, and screw-shaped bungeo-ppang, it is also paired with a fridge magnet and a Luban ruler (a traditional Chinese measuring tool), making it both unique and practical.
Notably, the store has also incorporated environmental concepts by innovatively recycling coffee grounds to make products such as candles and soap. It also organizes "business district research classes" to guide children in practicing environmental protection through hands-on coffee candle making. These activities not only enhance the store’s social responsibility but also provide meaningful parent-child experiences for family customers, further expanding the store’s influence.
"Taidong Hardware has always adhered to the philosophy of 'prioritizing integrity in business operations'. The high quality and reasonable pricing of our coffee beans are a continuation of this commitment to integrity," said Zhao Yang. "For instance, our 'Tsingtao Beer Americano' uses beer from Tsingtao Brewery’s First Factory with no additives whatsoever; our tomato and cucumber cold-brewed coffee uses fresh ingredients from Hema."
The new retail scenario has created a two-way customer-driving effect: coffee orders keep pouring in, and hardware products also gain more exposure in the process. From the consumer perspective, "coffee + hardware" caters to consumers’ pursuit of novel experiences, providing emotional value through unique scenarios, business formats, and products. From the production perspective, the new business format injects fresh vitality into the "time-honored brand", changes consumers’ stereotyped impressions of traditional hardware stores, and opens up new paths for the development of the industry.
This is not the end. It is understood that in the future, the store will continue to make adjustments based on demand. By expanding the coffee area, optimizing the structure of hardware products, and promoting the classification of products for daily use, it will further meet consumers’ needs for household hardware. At the same time, it will also enhance the cultural and leisure functions of the coffee area as a "Third Place", truly achieving the perfect integration of "utility" and "fun".

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