Established in 1853, Dayou Shop was owned by Zhu and located near Yaohang Street and Lingqiao Bridge, specializing in fruit products from north and south China, cakes and self-made pastries. Dayou Shop boasts chosen materials, exquisite production and products good at the color, aroma and taste. Among them, soy melon seeds, scented puddings and cakes are Ningbo delicacies. In the past, the façade of Dayou Shop was inlayed with a couplet which read “well-known in universe and best in southeast”, showing the owner’s ambition. Dayou Shop is one of the famous time-honored shops in Ningbo. At the beginning of the establishment of Dayou Shop, there were Datong, Fangyihe, Dongshengyang and Shengyangtai in the same industry in Ningbo. Owing to the sound management of Dayou Shop, Datong Shop across the street was acquired by Dayou Shop. Thus, there was an old saying like “Dayou prospers while Datong falls”.

Different from competitors, the success of Dayou Shop results from its unique management. When Zhu Rongqing took over the shop, he reformed the management and marketing. He supervised the procurement in person and insisted on the principle of honesty and fairness. For example, different levels of dried fruits were classified in the shop; the number of dried longans should not exceed 192 per kilo; shoddy walnuts should be replaced at once. In terms of service attitude, Dayou Shop treated all customers the same, no matter rich people or fishermen. It used to give a lantern to every farmer from the countryside with two Chinese characters “Da You” on it as the commercial. Some customers living in rural areas would ask a boatman to help them buy goods. Dayou Shop often treated these boatmen with tea, pastries, wine or dishes. Zhu Rongqing died in 1923. His son Zhu Yuansheng took over the shop, inheriting the tradition while innovating management. For instance, he carefully chose the directors of each department, shop assistants and order pickers. In addition, he gave higher salary with annual bonus attached, which made employees loyal. It is worth mentioning that Zhu Yuansheng reformed the packaging of “triangle cakes” and “axe cakes” by adopting paper box, printed with a colorful pattern and the brandname “Da You” and its address, beautiful, portable and influential.

In 1938, a warehouse of Dayou Shop was bombarded by Japanese bombers. Later on, when Ningbo was occupied, Dayou Shop was burnt in a fire and plunged into slump. After the Anti-Japannese War, inflation inflicted Dayou Shop greatly. In September 1949, it was damaged seriously by the Kuomintang bombers. In 1956 it was turned into an entity with public ownership. In 1970, a big fire almost paralyzed the shop. In 1980, Chinese government reinvested in the shop and reopened it at the same place, allowing Dayou Shop to inherit and develop traditional management, and encouraged Dayou to innovate its services. These efforts reinvigorated Dayou and its business prospered for some years before it disappeared due to urba reconstructions in recent years.