ONE shop owner who cannot understand what all the fuss is about is foundation Xintiandi tenant Anthony Edwards. He is the proprietor of the high-fashion store, "X", the first retail outlet in Xintiandi.

"It's a huge investment we all have made to be here and we all have to work harder to make a success of our enterprises," he said. "If that means having to streamline your business or re-examine how you are operating, then you had better do that.

"I respect what the Xintiandi management has done and I suspect that some of the tenants who are complaining are not running their businesses as efficiently as they should."

In Edwards' view, those business operations "should take a look at themselves and at what they are doing and stop moaning".

"Xintiandi management is upgrading the area and is attracting more people here than to any other shopping district in Shanghai," he said.

Edwards admits that 2003 has been a difficult year. "SARS was a disaster for all of us - but we have recovered now," he said.

The answer to business enterprises who were still suffering was "to work harder and the gods will smile on you".

"We must all acknowledge - and all Shanghai should acknowledge - that the Xintiandi management has done a great job for us and for the whole city. This place is still 'retail heaven'. I hate having negative people around."

Edwards has no time for any business enterprise that says it is still enduring "hard times". According to him "they simply haven't done their homework - they haven't looked after their staff or their client base".

"Xintiandi management has followed through and delivered on the original concept. There is no place like this in Beijing or, for that matter, anywhere in East Asia."

Edwards said his clientele was 30 per cent Shanghainese, 20 per cent Taiwanese, 20 per cent Hong Kong and the remainder were Western tourists.