On January 30, the topic "Meibang founder responds to the ugly clothes and expensive prices" appeared on Weibo hot search. Previously, Metersbonwe, the former "first share of casual clothing" in China, announced that Hu Jiajia resigned from five positions including chairman, and Zhou Chengjian, the founder of Metersbonwe, returned and is carrying out drastic reforms to Metersbonwe.
On January 29, Zhou Chengjian issued an open letter to all suppliers, in which he analyzed consumers' evaluation of the company's products as "ugly workmanship and expensive price". Zhou Chengjian said that the main reason for the above problems lies in the company's management model. He said, "The first mission of returning to the role of the company's main person is to solve the supply chain problem. ”
Metersbonwe, once known as the "King of Pedestrian Streets", will be a phoenix nirvana under Zhou Chengjian's re-helm, or will it be completely reduced to the tears of the times?
A beautiful bond that doesn't take the usual path
In many youth memories of the post-80s and 90s, Metersbonwe always has a place. Every key node of brand development also happens to step on the growth node of that generation.
In 2000, at the beginning of the millennium, Jay Chou was born, and swept the Chinese music scene with his unique singing voice and rhythmic and dynamic R&B style. Five years before he became popular, in 1995, a village tailor named Zhou Chengjian opened the first Metersbonwe store in Wenzhou, Zhejiang.
Zhou Chengjian Source: Baidu Encyclopedia
Earlier, Zhou Chengjian failed to start a business, and was saddled with 200,000 yuan of foreign debts, and later through doing business in Wenzhou's hottest clothing market, he not only paid off foreign debts, but also had a deeper understanding of the clothing industry, which led to the birth of the Meibang brand.
In 2003, Zhou Chengjian decided to move Metersbonwe from Wenzhou to Shanghai, and spent 10 million to invite Jay Chou as the brand spokesperson, and the two "Jay Chou" met in this way. At that time, Jay Chou's unique tonality formed a natural synergy with the Meibang brand, and the advertising slogan "not taking the usual road" was widely known.
At that time, Metersbonwe became a well-deserved trend vane. How many teenagers think about Jay Chou's same jacket day and night, in order to persuade their parents to buy a pair of Meibang jeans, they put on Meibang fashion clothes and walked out of the steps of six relatives who did not recognize them, and became the envy of their classmates.
In 2007, Metersbonwe ranked first in domestic casual clothing with a market share of 0.95%, and the market value was as high as 38.9 billion yuan after listing in 2008, and in 2011, it created a myth of 9.9 billion yuan in revenue and 1.2 billion yuan in net profit, which is unique in many domestic clothing brands.
In the past many years, Metersbonwe dominated the pedestrian streets of major cities, surrounded by "little brothers" such as Semir, Tang Shi, Yichun, Giordano and Jeanswest. In 2013, the number of Metersbonwe stores nationwide exceeded 5,000, and Zhou Chengjian also became the richest man in Zhejiang.
Chu Yuxing lost her happy hometown
Metersbonwe's most out-of-the-circle advertising placement was the idol drama "Let's Watch the Meteor Shower" broadcast in 2009, which is still talked about today. There is a clip in the play, the noble son Duanmu Lei played by Yu Haoming took the heroine Chu Yuxing into Metersbonwe, Chu Yuxing said that classic line in shock: "Duanmu He took me to Metersbonwe, picked out a lot of clothes and shoes, and when I looked in the mirror, I didn't know who the girl was inside."
Screenshot of the TV series "Let's Watch Meteor Shower".
At the time, this line was not too inconsistent, but with the gradual decline of Meibang, this plot produced an inexplicable sense of humor. The post-80s and the first batch of post-90s, the main group who once bought Meibang, gradually entered middle age, and they ridiculed "Chu Yuxing lost his happy hometown", while secretly recalling their young appearance in Meibang.
Business change is a process of alternating between the old and the new, "killing people in the invisible", and the same is true of youth.
Around 2010, after a long period of development, Internet e-commerce began to penetrate into people's daily life, and the business model and consumption concept changed dramatically. In 2015, Meibang Clothing, whose performance has declined for three consecutive years, suffered a loss for the first time.
In 2016, Zhou Chengjian's eldest daughter Hu Jiajia became the chairman of Meibang Clothing. According to statistics, during the seven years that Hu Jiajia was in power, Metersbonwe's net profit accumulated a loss of about 3.2 billion yuan. But the decline in performance cannot be entirely attributed to the second generation of the company. In fact, long before Hu Jiajia took over, Meibang was already going downhill.
Hu Jiajia Source: Baidu Encyclopedia
In terms of "internal worries", Metersbonwe's franchise stores account for too large. Some franchisees are not operating well, resulting in butterfly effects such as overdue repayment, longer accounts receivable, and other situations such as cash flow emergencies and arrears of employees' wages.
Poor management has caused a backlog of inventory, and Meibang stores hold loudspeakers every day to broadcast "39 pieces, 49 pieces discount clearance", and the brand power is further reduced in the hearts of the public. Netizens ridiculed that the former "prince" has become a hawker setting up a stall.
In terms of "external troubles", the rise of foreign fast fashion Zara, H&M, Uniqlo and e-commerce brands has robbed traditional clothing brands of their advantages in design style and price.
In addition to business problems, Metersbonwe's "urgent aesthetic" is its fatal wound. Of course, it is not the only one that has been complained about because of the "bad design", and domestic casual clothing such as Senmar, Tang Shi, and Yichun are not spared. They are often associated with the "country lady style" and "spirit guy style", and the version and design seem to remain unchanged for thousands of years, but different patterns are simply and rudely pasted on the clothes.
Source: Metersbonwe official flagship store
Some designers said that the preparation period for Meibang's new products is 6 to 8 months, and if the top management misjudges the popular styles of the season, it will exacerbate the inventory backlog and unsalable products, and further damage the brand image. On the other hand, the new speed of foreign fast fashion brands once every 2 weeks is due to the excellent trend analysis team behind it, as well as the super supply chain that can quickly order and ship.
Some netizens said that Metersbonwe's design tone is like dressing up in children's clothes for people in their twenties and thirties. Looking back now, this trendy brand that the post-80s and 90s generations were crazy about turned out to be a childhood companion.
Source: Metersbonwe official flagship store
Can the reverse hand over save the United States?
As of the first half of 2023, the number of stores of Meibang Apparel has fallen below 1,000, of which only 26 are directly operated stores, and the number of franchised stores has been reduced to 899. Metersbonwe was in a complete hurry.
Metersbonwe began to "sell the property to save itself", selling its property assets to Youngor 4 times in exchange for cash flow. On December 4, Meibang sold the "Kyoto Building" on Chunxi Road in Chengdu, which was bought in the year of the "Meteor Shower". From 2021 to the end of 2023, Meibang Apparel has cashed out more than 2.4 billion yuan in assets from sale.
Chengdu Chunxi Road "Kyoto Building"
Metersbonwe should be grateful to the person who used to love to buy buildings, otherwise there would be no buildings to sell now.
Metersbonwe finally realized the preciousness of feelings, and finally retracted the "foreshadowing" in "Let's Watch the Meteor Shower" after 15 years.
Source: Metersbonwe's official Weibo
On January 3, a topic of "Duanmu endorses Metersbonwe" appeared on the hot search, and Duanmu Lei's actor Yu Haoming joined Meibang as a New Year's ambassador and played a wave of sentimental cards.
On January 22, the "old father" Zhou Chengjian went out again and officially became the president of the company, completing the reverse baton. Zhou Chengjian bet on "digitalization" this time, including digital marketing methods, supply chain management, online and offline channels, etc. But on top of digital tools, there is also a need for "content production capacity".
After so many years, I want to catch the express train of "digitalization", which is equivalent to getting up early in the morning and catching up with a late market. Some netizens commented: "Kangxi can't pick up Pu Yi's plate when he comes."
Although the road ahead is unpredictable, Metersbonwe is not without hope. Li Ning and Peacebird have successfully transformed under the wave, and Metersbonwe, with its own trendy brand genes, may also have a Jedi counterattack.
I hope that at that time, the former "Meibang hipsters" can say with relief: "I'm a person, just look small." ”
(Have you ever bought Metersbonwe?Tell your story in the comment area~)
The content of the article is synthesized from China News Weekly, The Paper, Global Network Technology, National Business Daily, Business In-depth Observation, Sina Weibo, etc
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Zhou Chengjian quotes
1. I use "tailor" as a slogan every day, but in essence I forget about tailoring, which has caused today's trouble.
2. Be the right tortoise, not the wrong rabbit.
3. Enterprises always have to develop, you can't say that you haven't done it before, you have to do it. The mind of an entrepreneur to do things is never too late to set off at any time.
4. Whether it is jogging or running in small steps, even if it is the speed of an ant or the speed of a turtle, as long as it does not repeat, it is the fastest speed.
5. I think face is not valuable, the important thing is the goal, I want to solve the problem.
6. If you have abundant resources and bullets in your hands today, don't be impetuous, because impetuousness is easy to make detours.
7. Return to the circle and be a student of young people.
8. No matter how challenging you are today, as long as you are calm and don't be anxious, there will definitely be opportunities.
编辑：牛娇娜 曹亚勤 | 审核：靳晖 彭向华