[Epoch Times, May 14, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Li Jing comprehensive report) Bestseller, the Danish fashion retailer who first entered the Chinese fashion market, is about to close all offline stores of its fashion brand SELECTED in China. retail store.
Recently, a “Notice of Slade’s Termination of Retail Business” circulated online. The “Notice Letter” shows that in April 2022, Lingzhi made an important decision at the shareholders’ meeting and will close all SELECTED’s offline retail stores in China before July 31 this year.
This “Notice Letter” shows that due to the impact of the epidemic, the passenger flow of Slade’s offline shopping malls and department stores has dropped significantly. In April 2022, Lingzhi’s shareholder meeting made an important decision to close all of Slade’s offline retail stores in China before July 31 this year.
In response, Slade’s Tmall flagship store customer service responded to the Southern Metropolis Daily, “At present, we have received a notice from the company that the offline retail business of the Slade brand will continue to operate until July 31, 2022, and then will be closed.”
“City Express” reported that there is indeed news of Slade closing its stores, and many shopping malls in Hangzhou have received notices from the other side.
JACK&JONES, SELECTED, ONLY, and Vero Moda are the four major brands of Danish fashion retailer Lingzhi Fashion, and they are also the first foreign fashion brands to enter the Chinese fashion market.
Lingzhi Fashion’s parent company, Bestseller Lingzhi Fashion Group, was established in Denmark in 1975 and is one of the largest fashion groups in Europe. It owns nearly 20 brands including JACK&JONES, Vero Moda, ONLY, Vila, and JunnaRose.
Lingzhi Fashion, which entered the Chinese market in 1996, has introduced four brands, among which ONLY, Vero Moda and JACK&JONES all have nearly 2,000 stores in China. SELECTED, which entered China later in 2008, is the fourth brand introduced by Lingzhi Fashion and currently has 1,300 stores in China.
According to the brand, ONLY and Vero Moda are both popular women’s clothing brands, the main price is below 500 yuan, and the positioning is also focused on young women. JACK&JONES and SELECTED are both popular menswear brands. Except for a small number of winter coats that cost thousands of yuan, the main price bands of the two brands are basically below 500 yuan.
International clothing brand foundries withdraw from China and turn to Southeast Asia
In addition to the above-mentioned large-scale closure of Slade, in recent years, many foreign apparel brands have closed their stores or evacuated from China, including brands such as Uniqlo, Zara, H&M, etc., while rising labor costs and the authorities’ extreme epidemic prevention measures are the main reasons for the evacuation.
Uniqlo, a well-known affordable clothing chain, produced 90% of its products in China in 2013. By 2021, the proportion of Uniqlo foundries in Southeast Asia and South Asia, including Vietnam and Bangladesh, has risen to 40%.
“First Financial” previously reported that with rising costs, China’s textile and garment industry has transferred a large amount of production capacity from the coast to Southeast Asian countries.
It is understood that nearly 1,000 Chinese textile and garment enterprises have invested and built factories in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia, and more than 100 enterprises have invested in South Asia such as Bangladesh.
Responsible editor: Sun Yun#
