From industry giants to rock bottom
La Chapelle sadly withdrew
In your youth memories, is there a figure of La Chapelle?
It is the collective memory of many post-80s and post-90s girls, with a revenue of more than 10 billion yuan in 2017, which was the highest domestic women's clothing listed company at that time, known as the "Chinese version of ZARA"
In only 3 years, it opened more than 9,000 stores across the country and became the "store king" in the clothing industry.
However, the brand has been in a difficult situation recently, first the parent company was filed for bankruptcy, and then the property was auctioned to pay off the debt, but no one signed up for the auction. Although some offline stores are still open, the flow of people entering the store is sparse, and the business is not as good as before.
Today, it has few stores in Shanghai. Last weekend, Bund Jun came to a shop in the suburbs, and a few elderly salesmen chatted with themselves, looking indifferent. Other shops in the neighborhood have new light spring clothes, but it is out of place, with down jackets and coats hanging loosely, marked with 3-5 folds.
I tentatively asked the clerk if he knew that the company was going bankrupt and liquidated, and the other party said that he was not clear.
In fact, La Chapelle has been in decline as early as 2019, although there has been an improvement in 2021 through "bankruptcy" marketing, but selling misery is not a panacea. The time that belongs to it has been dormant for a long time, and it belongs to it, has passed.
01
Stores can be found everywhere
Loved by the student party
"I used to buy it often, and the dormitory girls had one piece each."
Referring to La Chapelle, Nana, a post-90s girl, said so. She used to be a die-hard fan of La Chapelle, and she liked elements full of "girly feeling" such as small flowers and checks.
When she was in college, she used to go to the store with friends, and La Chapelle's shop was everywhere and popular every weekend. In her wardrobe, she still retains a short sleeve she bought 10 years ago, and the black and white color scheme is simple and easy to match, and now it is not outdated.
But in the past five years, she has never bought clothes at La Chapelle, she told me: "It's not that I don't want to buy it, but I can't find one I like." ”
Once, she and a friend happened to pass by and deliberately walked into the store to take a look, but they were very disappointed.
The fancy matching in the window, the strange style on the hanger, the rich rustic atmosphere comes to the face. The material of the clothes was also rough to the touch, and they walked around the store several times and found nothing.
She was a little surprised in a trance: Is this still the trendy and fashionable "white moonlight" in her memory?
In her impression, La Chapelle's clothes are cut and workmanship, and the price is cheap, but I don't know when it started, gradually faded out of her vision.
Some media have launched a poll - "La Chapelle closes 13 stores a day, what do you think is the problem?" ”
So far, 391,000 people have participated in the vote, about 173,000 people have chosen "audit rustic, aesthetic pass the pass", and 163,000 people have chosen "expensive price, quality can not keep up".
It can be seen that La Chapelle has long become synonymous with "expensive and not good-looking", the quality is not worthy of the price, and the style cannot catch up with the trend.
Its bankruptcy is regrettable, but it is not surprising.
02
At one time, it became popular by "bankruptcy"
In November 2021, La Chapelle was on a hot search because he was "filed for bankruptcy settlement". Unexpectedly, the crisis became a promotional opportunity.
At that time, La Chapelle was already heavily in debt, 144 bank accounts were frozen, lost about 4.987 billion yuan for four consecutive years, and issued more than a dozen delisting risk warning announcements. But the memory killing caused by bankruptcy prompted many people to rush into the live broadcast room to squirm.
Taking advantage of the popularity, La Chapelle launched the "1 piece 9 discount, 2 pieces 8.7 discount, 3 pieces 8.5 discount" activities, some categories even "full 700 minus 600", and there are many pre-ordered goods.
The number of people in the live broadcast room suddenly soared from less than 100,000 to more than 600,000, and the staff shouted from time to time: "If you want to pick up the leak, look at it quickly." ”
As a result, La Chapelle's warehouse burst with orders, and employees worked overtime late at night to deliver goods. Not only did it not fall, but it made a wave by clearing its position, and also ushered in two limit increases
In 2022, the news of La Chapelle's "1 discount sweep" and "headquarters shopping" will be popular on social networking sites every once in a while, and the voices of "sisters rushing" are endless.
However, everyone has heard more stories of "wolves coming", and after their feelings are worn out, they no longer buy it. Its offline stores have also plummeted from nearly 10,000 to more than 100.
Under the crisis, La Chapelle has been saving itself, discounting, opening franchises, selling headquarters buildings to pay off debts, and even spending 160 million to acquire Naf Naf, changing 5 presidents in a year, but these actions have not made the situation better.
The impact of e-commerce and the ferocity of rising stars have made it difficult. In a pre-loss report, La Chapelle once disclosed where the money has been lost over the years, just the decline in offline store revenue, closed store operating losses, goods backlog, sub-brand losses These four major sectors, each with a loss of at least 200 million yuan.
In this case, the emotional flow brought by the bankruptcy news has become popular, but it is just drinking to quench thirst.
03
Crying poor marketing
Sales?
From a generation of national women's clothing to bankruptcy and land sales, La Chapelle's current situation is full of emotion.
Over the years, the brand that has relied on bankruptcy to bring goods is not the only one. Some insiders ridiculed: "A new way for brands to start with 'bankruptcy'." ”
For example, beauty brand Revlon will "go bankrupt" every time the 618 and Double 11 promotions are promoted, followed by discounts.
At first, everyone will place orders, but after more times, they will not be moved. Even after its official flagship store closed, some people questioned: "I want to see if it can really go bankrupt this time!" ”
The reason why many brands are willing to sell miserable to save themselves is because of the small investment and can taste the sweetness in the short term, so they have repeatedly tried and tried. However, for a brand that is about to collapse, this kind of marketing can hardly have a change in the world.
Interestingly, there are also some "rescued" brands, most of which are "bankrupt", and what they lack may only be some opportunities to be seen.
For example, Hongxing Erke donated 50 million yuan of disaster relief materials after the flood in Henan, and the comment area said "Niang Le!" It feels like you're about to go out of business and donate so much", setting off a wave of buying frenzy, which was consumed by the wild more than 190 million.
The same is true of bee flower, because the packaging is too simple, and some netizens are willing to improve it, and it is pitiful: "This costs money, right?" ”
The "bitterness" between the lines makes people worry that it will not be able to operate, and the comment area is full of "you can't go out of business" and "I'll buy it". Bee Flower Douyin soon rose by 570,000 followers, setting a record of 20,000 sales a day, which is the usual amount in a month.
A closer look reveals that these events are episodic. For most brands, marketing is just a lever, and more and more comprehensive optimization is needed to survive in the long run.
Three feet of ice, not a day's cold. The factors that lead to the collapse of a brand are not single.
La Chapelle's bankruptcy means the fall of a generation of Chinese fashion queens. "Seeing him rise tall, seeing him banquet guests, seeing his building collapse", perhaps, it who has accompanied us through our youth, is more suitable to stay in memories.
Text, Editor/Xin
The data comes from Lianshang.com, 21st Century Business Review, Interface News, etc
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