Text/BU Review/ZiYang Proofreader/Zhiqiu
In the past, Wen Heyou was the darling of the catering industry and the upstart of Internet celebrities, and he was loved by thousands of people. Today's Wen Heyou seems to be abandoned by capital and consumers, and a recent news has made it fall off the altar.
Big layoffs for influencer brands
On February 17, the news of Wen Heyou's large-scale layoffs spread rapidly on the Internet. It is understood that the layoff parties are mainly Changsha Wenheyou and Nanjing Wenheyou, one is the starting point of the company, and the other is the company's new project.
At the same time, Wen Heyou was also exposed to the behavior of deducting employees' wages, and the company's year-end bonus in 2021 has not been issued.
In response to the news of the layoffs, Wen Heyou said that this is just a normal personnel change, and the company has been recruiting new employees. As for the issue of deducting employees' wages, Wen Heyou chose to avoid talking about it.
Today's Wenheyou, there is no longer the bustle of the past, the company's operation has gone downhill. This has made the industry worried about the future development of Wenheyou.
From roadside stalls to annual income of over 100 million
I have to say that Wen Bin, the founder of Wen Heyou, is a catering genius.
At that time, Wen Bin took 5,000 yuan to start a roadside stall business in Changsha. In fact, the fried skewers are not a novel business, but Wen bin has taken a different path, taking out 1,000 yuan to create IP and signboards, making a unique fried skewer.
In this way, Wen Bin's business became bigger and bigger, and it was not long before he was upgraded from a small stall to a "Wen He You Lao Changsha Fried Society".
With more room to show, Wen Bin has made a big show of his fists, gathering classic dishes such as stinky tofu, crayfish, and large sausages among Wen Heyou, creating a selling point of "old Changsha" culture, and making the store bigger and bigger.
After boarding "Every Day Upward", Wen Heyou became a Popular Food Shop in Changsha, attracting stars such as Nicholas Tse and Gao Yuanyuan to stand for him.
It is understood that by 2015, the annual revenue of Wenheyou has reached a scale of 100 million yuan.
However, Wenbin's ambitions were not satisfied, and Wenbin wanted to be the operator of urban culture more than a hot restaurant.
So in 2018, Wenbin opened the "Super WenheYou" project.
An internet celebrity brand valued at 10 billion
This year, Wenbin spent 100 million yuan to rent a 20,000-square-meter venue in Hisense Plaza, which has rarely been patronized, and after decorating the venue into the style of old Changsha, it introduced hundreds of carefully selected snack stores.
With retro scene creation, old shop flavor, and nostalgic atmosphere, Super Wen and Youyi jumped to the top. Hisense Plaza suddenly became one of the liveliest areas in Changsha.
Super Wen and You were soon sought after by capital, successively receiving hundreds of millions of yuan in financing, and the company's valuation also successfully exceeded 10 billion yuan.
Moreover, Wen Bin also successfully became a student of Lakeside University and became a student of Ma Yun. The two were also photographed going shopping together in Changsha.
At that time, the super Wenheyou and Wenbin were undoubtedly the hottest names in the field of catering.
It is not enough to create a super Wen Heyou in Changsha, Wen Bin wants to create a "Disney of the restaurant industry". As a result, Super Wen and You gradually entered Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Nanjing.
But this time, Wen Bin fell on his heel.
Brief brilliance
In Guangzhou, Wen Bin opened Super Wen heyou in Taikoo Hui, still under the banner of restoring the local old time, still introducing local specialty stores.
In the months after the opening of Guangzhou Super Wenheyou, it was indeed very hot, and the queue could not be seen at a glance. However, this brilliance did not last long. Nowadays, guangzhou Wenheyou has closed many stores, and there is no glory at all when they opened.
Such a situation has also been staged in Shenzhen Wenheyou. Judging from the news of the layoffs of Changsha Wenheyou, the operation of the company's "base camp" is not good. From a hot moment to today's gradual passing, what did Wen Heyou do wrong.
Wen Heyou's fault
The author believes that the reason why Wenheyou is no longer favored by consumers is mainly for two reasons.
First, there is no local urban characteristics.
Wen Heyou's name is to restore the old local time and preserve the memory of the city. To this end, Wen Heyou used neon lights, dense small advertisements, faded tables and chairs as decorations, and quickly pulled people back to those past days.
However, a closer look reveals that the scenes created by Wen Heyou seem to work in most cities and do not show local characteristics at all. Moreover, the retro scene is not a difficult thing, and the more people who imitate it, the more people will be aesthetically tired.
The retro scene is just a shell, and the real inside is still a cultural heritage, but this is exactly where Wen Heyou lacks.
Second, it is difficult to replicate the flavor of the old times.
In order to create the flavor of the old times, Super Wen and You once introduced the old local shop. However, this attempt was unsuccessful, and many old shops returned to their old locations.
Without the old shop, Wen Heyou is not attractive, and many people complain that the things in Wen Heyou are expensive and not delicious. As a result, Wen Heyou is naturally difficult to retain consumers, and after a moment of enthusiasm, Wen Heyou is quickly left behind by consumers.
As a result, Wen Heyou's current predicament has been created. At present, Wen Heyou is at the crossroads of fate, and where it will go is still unknown.