- Chief Business Intelligence
- Chief Business Intelligence
Another fast fashion brand has been defeated!
Recently, some media exposed the news that the fast fashion brand MJstyle stored-value card is difficult to refund and cannot be swiped in physical stores, which has caused heated discussions.
"Dear members, your stored value balance may not be available for use in the near future, it is recommended that you visit any MJstyle store near you before April 30, 2024 to use it......"
On April 23, consumers who had patronized the MJstyle brand received this text message.
On Xiaohongshu, many consumers shared their refund experiences, and most of them expressed dissatisfaction with this statement, not only because it was difficult to refund the stored value card, but also because some consumers went to the store to consume, only to be told that the stored value card could not be used in the franchise store.
The staff in the store said that the franchise store and the directly operated store operate separately, and the stored value card can only be used in the directly operated store.
Unable to retreat and retreat, and unable to consume, it has caused many consumers to complain and complain.
Consumers who fail to get refunds can only be forced to consume to reduce losses, but forced consumption seems to be "full of routines".
Because many of the clothes in the store are old styles, it is a waste to buy them back, and you can't wear them, and you can't buy them enough to make up the money in the stored value card.
Consumers flocked to the store to swipe stored value cards and queue up to buy and checkout, and for a while, the news of MJstyle's bankruptcy on social platforms was also rampant.
In fact, it is not the first time that MJstyle has been rumored to be in bankruptcy liquidation, as early as July 2022, there was already news of bankruptcy.
Up to now, MJstyle's affiliated company, Shanghai Jianshang Apparel Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jianshang Apparel"), has a total of 8 bankruptcy cases and bankruptcy review cases. The latest publication date is April 11 this year, the applicant is Nanjing Hanbo International Trade Co., Ltd., and the economic court is the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People's Court. According to the announcement, the court has ruled to accept the bankruptcy liquidation case of Jianshang Clothing.
In addition, according to the risk information, the company also has a number of records of judgment debtors, dishonest judgment debtors, and restrictions on high consumption.
On the 24th of this month, the company added a new piece of execution information, and the execution target was 938141 yuan.
MJstyle used to be a fast fashion brand with unlimited glamour, why has it failed now?
It was once regarded as "ZARA's biggest competitor" in China
When it comes to fast fashion brands, everyone will think of foreign brands such as ZARA, H&M, and Uniqlo, however, there have also been a number of local fast fashion brands rising in China, and MJstyle is one of them.
The name MJstyle, at first glance, is probably a foreign brand. In fact, it is a local fast fashion brand founded by the ex-husband of well-known female artist Zhang Yuqi, Yuan Bayuan, in 2012.
The style of its clothes draws on the fashion elements of Japan and South Korea, and is localized, between fashion, quality and price, MJstyle is just right, consumers can buy a texture and fashion sense of clothing at an inexpensive price, therefore, MJstyle at that time can be said to be deeply liked by young people.
At that time, under the wave of fast fashion, foreign fast fashion brands such as ZARA and H&M began to conquer the domestic clothing market, and these brands did achieve the ultimate in "fast", which just met the needs of young people who like the new and hate the old.
In front of many predecessors, the rising star MJstyle directly chose a shortcut to imitate, it directly refers to the ZARA model, from design, processing, production, to store sales are striving for a "fast" word, insisting on launching more than 3,000 popular clothing every season, so it was once regarded as the "biggest competitor of ZARA" in China.
With its fashionable style design and cost-effective price, MJstyle's development momentum is indeed very strong, and it was also the golden age of China's traditional retail industry at that time.
At the beginning, the pace of MJstyle's expansion was relatively slow, and only 16 stores were opened in 2 years after its establishment, but by 2015, MJstyle seemed to have opened up the second pulse of physical stores, and led other major brands with 160 stores.
In 2016, 200 stores were opened, and the number of stores doubled. Since then, its expansion momentum has continued unabated, and by 2018, the total number of MJstyle stores exceeded 900, and even the overseas market was expanded that year, opening its first overseas store in Tokyo, Japan.
In 2021, with a growth rate of 59 new stores, it ranked second among fast fashion brands that year, second only to Uniqlo, and it can be said that it was once prosperous.
It's just that MJstyle, which has not yet ushered in its golden age, is beginning to show signs of decline.
Since 2018, MJstyle's performance has begun to decline, and in 2022, MJstyle has a business crisis, which directly starts the wave of store closures, and stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong and other cities have been closed one after another, and the remaining stores have also hung out slogans of clearance and big promotions.
In addition, Yuan Bayuan, the founder of MJstyle, also stepped down as the company's legal representative and manager in May 2022, indirectly holding shares in the company.
Jianshang Apparel also added a bankruptcy review case in 2022, and there are many pieces of information on the person subject to execution.
Nowadays, MJstyle is surrounded by keywords such as store closures, crazy discounts, bankruptcy liquidation, and constant legal disputes.
It also shows that MJstyle is losing down, but there are actually traces of its coming to this point.
Eat the bitter fruit yourself
It is undeniable that MJstyle's scenery has the right time, place and people, and MJstyle, which enjoys the development dividend of the industry, got carried away for a while, adopted a radical market strategy, and frantically opened stores to seize market share.
In addition, most of the stores opened by MJstyle are concentrated in first- and second-tier cities, which not only have high rent, labor and operating costs, but also have high competition, saturated markets, and weak overall growth.
As of July 6, 2021, the proportion of directly operated stores has reached 74.4%, and MJstyle's insistence on the asset-heavy model has become a burden on its performance.
At the same time, under the impact of e-commerce and live streaming, the offline physical retail economy has gradually declined, the traditional way of playing has long changed, and the period of enjoying the traffic dividend of offline stores has long passed.
In 2018, even La Chapelle suffered its first loss. However, MJstyle is not keenly aware of the great changes in the industry and is still expanding wildly.
Even during the pandemic, the number of stores continued to grow.
Although the increase in the number of stores can drive short-term revenue growth, they are not keenly aware of the changes in the market, and they are too conceited, and the final result is to play themselves to death.
It is regarded as the "biggest competitor of ZARA" in China, but it simply imitates the shape of a fast fashion brand, and does not understand the essence of "fast fashion".
Fast fashion brands have been defeated
Looking back at the beginning of 2000, fast fashion brands can be said to be a blue ocean market, at that time, the domestic urbanization process is fast, consumer demand is also growing rapidly, at that time foreign fast fashion brands are vying to enter the Chinese market, local fast fashion brands to take advantage of the wind.
La Chapelle, founded in 1998, and Metersbonwe, founded in 1995, were both top local clothing brands at that time.
In 2002, UNIQLO opened its first store in Shanghai, kicking off the Chinese fast fashion market. In 2006, ZARA entered the Chinese market, and in 2007, the first H&M in mainland China opened on Huaihai Road in Shanghai.
However, there are very few fast fashion brands that were smash hits at the beginning, and there are very few that are still developing steadily, accompanied by negative information about bankruptcy, store closures, and retreats.
ZARA, once the "king of fast fashion", has recently been exposed to rumors of "withdrawing from the Chinese market". Although ZARA officials later denied it, the series of actions to close the store were facts.
According to the financial report of Zara's parent company, Inditex Group, the number of ZARA stores in Chinese mainland in 2018 was 183, and as of January 31, 2024, only 96 remain.
In just two months, ZARA closed nine stores. Even the first ZARA store to enter the mainland market, Nanjing West Road, officially closed on January 2, 2023.
However, local fast fashion brands are even worse.
La Chapelle, which was once the first domestic garment company to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and was even known as the "Chinese version of ZARA", opened nearly 10,000 stores, and was recently revealed to have auctioned the Shanghai ABP with about 7% off 950 million yuan.
The continuous decline in performance made La Chapelle start to sell land and houses for profit, and gradually stripped off loss-making assets and closed nearly 9,000 stores, but it was still difficult to recover the decline. After encountering the epidemic, La Chapelle finally came to the situation of bankruptcy liquidation.
Metersbonwe, who once invited Jay Chou to endorse, is also constantly losing money, with a cumulative loss of nearly 3.2 billion yuan in the seven years since 2013.
Looking at these brands, most of them are the tears of the times, so many people are singing about the decline of the fast fashion industry, but in fact, the local fast fashion brand Urban Revivo still maintains a growth momentum.
A number of Chinese cross-border e-commerce fast fashion brands are also coming to the fore, especially SHEIN, which is rapidly occupying the international fast fashion market, and even launched a battle for the king of fast fashion to Zara.
For garment enterprises, it is indispensable to face wind and waves, the key is to learn to "adapt", and need to constantly adjust business strategies, identify market demand, and keep up with the development trend of the industry in order to be invincible in the fiercely competitive market.
I also hope that the above examples of defeated brands can sound the alarm for the remaining local clothing brands that are still struggling, and only by keeping up with changes, advancing with the times, and seeking new growth points, can they not be abandoned by the market and consumers.
Have you ever bought MJstyle's clothes?What do you think about its fall?Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss, express your opinions or opinions, thank you.
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