Every reporter: Du Wei, Ding Zhouyang, every editor: Wei Guanhong
The world-renowned brand Walkers suddenly launched an unprecedented promotion in the Chinese market.
"I bought more than 20 pieces this time, I have always liked this brand, a few months ago I bought a few winter clothes for tens of thousands of yuan, and now I can buy them for 100 yuan. On April 11, the sales area of a shopping mall in Chengdu was crowded, and some consumers showed the "Daily Economic News" reporter several large bags of "results", which were full of down jackets, jackets, sweatshirts, etc. Such a scene is also staged in Shanghai, Shandong and other places.
The sales area of the clothing of the Walker in a shopping mall Image source: Photo by reporter Du Wei
Founded in 1958, the American brand Walkers, which focuses on comfort, has led the casual fashion in Europe and the United States for a long time, covering hundreds of countries around the world, and has also been a major revenue contributor to the Wolflin Group, a listed company in the United States.
In 1997, the company entered the Chinese market and has been positioned in the mid-to-high-end market. The reporter interviewed the clerks of the Walkers in many cities across the country as consumers, and they all told the reporter that the brand was very good before, and the big promotion was because of the replacement of the new boss, and the brand will also withdraw the cabinet from some shopping malls.
The reporter's inquiry noticed that at the beginning of this year, the local "children's clothing king" Jiaman clothing (301276. SZ, share price 20.55 yuan, market value 2.219 billion yuan) announced that it has completed the acquisition of the brand assets of Walkers in China for about 420 million yuan. On April 12, the reporter of "Daily Economic News" called the secretary office of the board of directors of Jiaman Clothing, and the staff who answered said that the company was about to release an annual report and would not respond to relevant questions for the time being.
In the past, high-end brands were sold at the "cabbage price".
"It's hot, it's crowded, and it's tiring, but it's worth it to buy a coat for a few thousand yuan. ”
"With a hot brain, I rushed in and bought 8 pieces, and when I came home, I found that many sizes were not suitable. ”
"I saw with my own eyes that many people were packing in woven bags, and one person carried a few sacks. ”
⋯⋯
During this time, consumers in many places have posted pictures, texts and videos of rushing to buy the Walkers on Moments and social platforms, which has attracted widespread attention.
From April 11th to 12th, the reporter of "Daily Economic News" went to a number of physical stores of the company and personally felt the popularity of the brand's promotion scene. From 10 o'clock in the morning, when the mall first opened, a large number of consumers poured in, queuing up to "sweep the goods", and at nearly 9 o'clock in the evening, the clothing store was still full of people.
At 10:20 in the morning, there was a long queue in the sales area of the Walker Photo source: Photo by reporter Du Wei
When there are the most people, it takes more than 1 hour just to queue up to pay. "This store is quite 'orderly', the clothes are hanging on the shelves, and the one I went to the day before yesterday, the boxes of clothes were snatched up by everyone before they were hung on the stage. Consumer Lu Jia (pseudonym) told reporters that in the past few days, she has rushed to a number of physical stores of the company, and as of April 11, she has bought more than 20 pieces of clothing of the brand.
"I didn't want to buy it before, but now it's so cheap, I definitely have to grab it. In the eyes of Hu Cheng (pseudonym), the company belongs to the high-end brand, he told reporters that at the beginning of this year, he made up his mind to buy a 4% discount cotton clothes out of season, "spent nearly 1,000 yuan." This time I bought two down jackets, two windbreakers, and two sweatshirts, all of which were discounted, and 6 pieces were only more than 1,600 yuan. ”
The store of the company carried out a big promotion on the short video platform Image source: Screenshot of the third-party platform
At a promotion site, the clerk of the Leisure Walk told the reporter of "Daily Economic News" that he had a busy day and only ate the first meal of the day in the evening. "We have an old customer who bought more than 20,000 yuan of clothing at one time, which used to cost at least 100,000 yuan. The above-mentioned clerk also told reporters that the store has recently opened promotions, and the single-day turnover has almost exceeded 300,000 yuan in the past few days.
The reporter visited and learned that not all of the stores are selling at one or two discounts, and according to the novelty of the clothing and the time when the store lease expires, the discount of some stores is four or seven folds. "There was a store that cleared all the goods in a few days and was scolded by the boss. Our shop lease expires in July, so we're selling slowly. Chen Chuan (pseudonym), a clerk at the shop, told reporters.
There is a store with an annual turnover of more than 3 million yuan, and the big promotion is due to "a new boss"
"It's really hard to understand why a T-shirt used to cost eight or nine hundred yuan, but now it's so cheap. Song Chengsi (pseudonym) is a loyal consumer of the company, and has bought tens of thousands of yuan worth of clothing at the brand over the years, and he told reporters that he is "very hurt" and cannot accept the current "cabbage price" of the company.
Consumers are crazy to grab the time step picture source: Netizens shared screenshots
In 1958, the American Wolflin Group founded the brand Walkers, which mainly focused on casual shoes and clothing, and then for more than half a century, the brand led the casual fashion in Europe and the United States.
In the book "A Biography of Steve Jobs," Jobs was not happy with the initial iPad ad, saying that it was difficult to explain what the iPad was, so the first set of ads was especially important. "The first set of ads showed what we wanted to do, and it was more like an ad for a cashmere sweater and a casual shoe. ”
The popularity of the Walker began in the 90s of the 20th century when rock stars, such as David Bowie, Elvis Presley, and the Rolling Stones, often wore the Walker when they toured the world. Warren Buffett and Princess Diana have also been photographed wearing Walkers, which are also one of the classic outfits in the well-known American drama "Friends".
Princess Diana wearing the shoes of a walker Image source: Netizens shared screenshots
In 1997, the company entered the Chinese market, targeting mid-to-high-end consumers, and its stores are mainly located in high-end shopping malls or large department stores. In the past, clothing that cost thousands of yuan is now sold at the "fracture price", which has aroused the doubts and puzzles of many consumers: Is the Walker going out of business?
In this regard, a number of clerks told reporters that the brand's clothing is "very good", and many stores are old stores that have been open for many years. "Our store will sell more than 3 million yuan of turnover in 2023. Xijia (pseudonym), who has been selling Walker clothing for nearly 3 years, told reporters that now there are more than 20 boxes of clothes in the store, totaling more than 1,000 pieces, and they have not yet had time to put them on the shelves.
The reporter learned through an interview that the main reason for the sudden promotion of the soothing Bushi clothing that is not worried about selling is that "the new boss has changed". "The current boss doesn't want this shipment. Xijia said that her store will be withdrawn from the mall in the future, and she and her colleagues are ready to stand on the last shift, "We don't know what to do, and we will look for jobs again." But some clerks told reporters that they would follow the previous boss to sell new brands. When the reporter interviewed on the spot, he also encountered some consumers who said that the shopping money recharged before had not been used up, and some people still had thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan in their cards that had not been used.
The "new boss" of the clerk is Garman Clothing. On April 12, the reporter of "Daily Economic News" called the secretary of the board of directors of Jiaman clothing, and the person who answered said that the company was about to release an annual report, and it was not convenient to be interviewed at present.
European and American favorite lop-eared dog "changed hands" and China's "children's clothing king"
In September 2023, China's "children's clothing king" Garman Clothing threw an olive branch to the company, saying that it would acquire the IP assets of the brand in China with its own funds.
In fact, the cooperation between Garman clothing and Walkers has long been related. According to the 2023 semi-annual report of Jiaman Apparel, the company obtained the exclusive right to operate the children's clothing in China in 2013.
Image source: Screenshot of the official website of Walkers
On September 1, 2023, the staff of Jiaman Clothing told the "Daily Economic News" reporter on the phone that after the completion of the acquisition, Jiaman Clothing will be the "own brand" of Jiaman Clothing, which means that Jiaman Clothing will not have to pay authorization fees to Jiaman every year in the future, similar to the transformation from "renting" to "buying a house".
The agency in China is quite fragmented. The reporter learned from the industry that in addition to the children's clothing authorized to Jiaman clothing, the footwear business of the footwear business of the company was authorized to Belle, and the adult clothing business has been authorized to dealers in several different regions, and this state is not conducive to long-term stable brand building.
In January 2024, Garman announced that the transaction related to the acquisition of the assets of the company has been completed. After the completion of the acquisition, Jiaman Apparel will have the opportunity to re-integrate the resources of the full range of products and form a business synergy.
The shop of the Walker is located in the high-end business district Image source: Photo by reporter Du Wei
At the recent investor exchange meeting, Cheng Linna, deputy general manager and secretary of the board of directors of Jiaman Clothing, also said that the company can consider opening a flagship store of all categories of family in the future, and display the goods of various categories of the company in a scene-based way. In terms of brand promotion, some publicity and promotion activities will also be considered from the overall level of the brand.
But now the clearance sale of men's and women's clothing has undoubtedly left uncertainty for the brand's subsequent integration and upgrading. Zhou Ting, an expert in the luxury industry, told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that there was not much brand exposure in China, and this time the "fracture price" was widely concerned, which will not be conducive to the high-end and healthy development of the brand.
National Business Daily
Source: National Business Daily
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