Japanese retailer Ito Yokado Co Ltd is to close its Wangjing store in Beijing on April 25, with employees and goods withdrawn on May 15. Industry experts said fewer customers and a less-than-satisfactory performance are to blame for the end of eight years' operation.

Theclosureof the store in a high-end community of northeastern Beijing is the beginning of a strategyreshufflefor Ito Yokado, which has eight stores in the capital and five in Chengdu.

Traditional hypermarkets and department stores have been hit by the rise of e-commerce, represented by companies such as online retailer Tmall, a platform of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. In response, Beijing Wangfujing Department Store (Group) Co Ltd and New World Department Store China Ltd have entered the e-commerce market.