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Tag: China

  • Convenience drives Chinese smart-home market

    Convenience drives Chinese smart-home market

    New research from market intelligence agency Mintel has suggested that convenience will drive the future of the Chinese smart-home market. However, affordability is the biggest barrier to purchasing, in an environment where today’s Chinese consumers are growing increasingly familiar with smart home devices. According to Mintel, as many as 68 per cent of urban Chinese consumers who have purchased or are interested in smart-home devices say that convenience is a primary reason for their interest. Meanwhile, 60 per cent attribute their interest in smart-home devices to trying new technology and half because smart home devices make them feel more relaxed at home.

    “Chinese consumers are now increasingly knowledgeable about how smart-home appliances can help to simplify daily lives,” said Mintel China research analyst Kaye Huang. “Convenience as well as an interest in trying new technology are big reasons for Chinese consumers to purchase smart-home devices. Parents are showing more interest in smart-home devices than those without children; which is likely to be attributed to how the devices can help parents save time and effort. On the flip side, price, more so than privacy, is what is keeping Chinese consumers from purchasing these devices. This indicates that companies in the smart-home market need to put more effort into communicating why these products are value for money.”

    Meanwhile, Mintel research reveals that automatic adjustment to environmental changes is a big opportunity for players in the smart home devices market; more than half of urban Chinese consumers think that this function is a necessity.

    “What will stand out in the smart-home market is the ‘automatic adjustment of parameters’ which enables smart-home devices to automatically respond to environmental changes, such as temperature and humidity. Today’s Chinese consumers have higher expectations on their living conditions and automation is an important part of making the living environment ‘smarter’,” said Huang.

    “Voice control has been a popular area of development in recent years especially since the industry believes that it could be the next generation of user interaction,” continued Huang. “Yet, our research finds that voice control, while widely-known, is a less-used smart home function. While playing music and asking for general information are two main functions that Chinese consumers are using for voice control, in reality this only counts for a handful of consumers, suggesting consumers’ habit of using voice control is far from being firmly established. In the future, brands can look at rolling out strategies and initiatives to instil the habit of using voice control among consumers in China.”

  • ViSenze AI technology helps people shop on Samsung phones

    ViSenze AI technology helps people shop on Samsung phones

    Visual commerce AI firm ViSenze has partnered with Samsung to help users easily discover and purchase products using the Shopping by Bixby Vision app on the electronics firm’s mobile devices. The partnership employs ViSenze’s automated visual-commerce technology and visual-search capabilities customised to consumers’ personalised shopping demands.

    “Consumers are exposed to countless products in their everyday lives that inspire and empower them to explore new trends,” said ViSenze CEO Oliver Tan. “Samsung is one of the first major companies to capitalise on this, recognising how essential it is to ensure the path from discovery to purchase is effortless.

    “At ViSenze, we work globally with some of the largest brands and retailers. Coupling this knowledge with our market-leading visual commerce technology, we are able to provide our partners with the insights and capabilities they need to find success with visual search and the commerce it’s driving each day.”

    According to material released by the brand, “Visual commerce solutions enable mobile shoppers to seize inspirational moments instantaneously by enabling them to find the same or visually similar products directly on their devices from top retailers such as Rakuten, Urban Outfitters and Zalora.”

    “Thanks to ViSenze, customers in this region can now take mobile shopping to new heights via Shopping by Bixby Vision, which makes shopping easier than ever, via your camera,” said head of mobile services & partnerships for Samsung Southeast Asia & Oceania Christopher Tarr.

    “From inspiration to instant gratification – it is that simple.”

  • Sands China mall sales increase when land-based visitors return

    Sands China mall sales increase when land-based visitors return

    Sands China mall revenue rose 5.8 per cent last year as Mainland China visitor numbers rebounded. Sands China owns The Venetian Macao, Sands Cotai Central, The Parisian Macao and The Plaza Macao shopping centres which boast a combined 1.87 million sqft of retail-mall space. They form a key part of the company’s giant gaming and resorts business in the territory, which combined posted US$8.67 billion in sales last year, up more than 14 per cent, and achieved a post-tax profit of $1.87 billion, up 17 per cent.

    The company says mall revenues for the year increased 5.8 per cent overall to $507 million, compared to $479 million the previous year.

    The increase was primarily driven by higher turnover fees from Shoppes at Four Seasons, Shoppes at Venetian and Shoppes at Cotai Central, and from additional retail space becoming available at Cotai Central.

    The strongest-performing mall complex was the smallest of the four, The Plaza Macao, which has the 241,548sqft gross leasable area (GLA). It achieved 99 per cent occupancy with a base rent of $460 per sqft and tenant sales of $4373 per sqft, contributing $145 million in revenue, up 10.7 per cent year on year.

    The weakest-performing mall was The Parisian Macao, with 89.8 per cent occupancy of its 295,915sqft GLA. Base rent per sqft was $156 and tenant sales per sqft $649. Revenue there fell 13.6 per cent year on year to just $57 million.

    The company’s largest Macau property, and its first, The Venetian Macao, has 813,376sqft of GLA. It achieved total mall revenues of $233 million last year – up 6.4 per cent – with 90.3 per cent occupancy, a base rent of $263 and tenant sales of $1746.

    Sands Cotai Central, with 519,681sqft GLA, achieved $69 million in revenue – up 9.5 per cent – and achieved 91.5 per cent occupancy. Base rent was $108 and tenant sales $892.

    Sands China said its food and beverage revenues rose 4.1 per cent last year to $304 million, driven primarily by increased foot traffic.

    Chairman Sheldon G Adelson said Macao’s development and evolution as Asia’s leading tourism destination accelerated during the year, with market-wide visitation from China reaching a record 25.2 million visits, an increase of 14 per cent compared to last year.

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  • New Zealand bans Huawei from 5G mobile network

    New Zealand bans Huawei from 5G mobile network

    From offering mobile payment services such as WePay and Alipay to hiring front-desk staff proficient in Mandarin, the New Zealand Chinese Travel and Tourism Association was not short of advice for Kiwi tourism operators on how to benefit from an influx of mainland Chinese visitors to New Zealand this year.

    “Chinese tourists enjoy spontaneous travel so there are a lot of last minute bookings. For businesses who’d like to attract Chinese tourists, this is the major challenge for them,” association chairman Simon Cheung said in a promotional video.

    But preparations for the 2019 China-New Zealand Year of Tourism – a campaign by both governments to strengthen economic and bilateral ties – were cast in doubt when China postponed the launch event, which was expected to take place in Wellington next week. Huawei is banned, but where is the backlash in New Zealand?

    New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday acknowledged that the country’s relationship was complex and not without challenges, but dismissed talk there was a rift. But she revealed that dates for her first official trip to China, planned for the end of last year, still had not been finalised.

    “I have been issued with an invitation to visit China, that has not changed. We continue to find dates that would work,” she said.

    Her admission fuelled concerns from opposition parties and the media that ties, already tense after Ardern’s government blocked Chinese telecom giant Huawei from the nationwide roll-out of a 5G data network over “significant national security concerns”, were deteriorating further.

    Last weekend, an Air New Zealand flight en route to Shanghai was turned back to Auckland, with some reports suggesting it was due to how paperwork on board the plane had referred to Taiwan. According to Bloomberg, the airline said the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was not yet certified to fly to China, but had been “unfortunately assigned” the flight.

    The Civil Aviation Administration of China last year told foreign firms and airlines not to refer to Taiwan as anything other than a Chinese territory on their websites.

    Former New Zealand government trade consultant Robert Scollay said from the point of view of those in the country, China’s latest actions “raised the question of whether this is a temporary expression of displeasure or if it means something more significant”.

    After Wellington’s decision on Huawei, which it took in support of its fellow members in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, there was a debate on whether it had finally chosen a side in its long-running balancing act between the United States and China – its two most important economic partners.

    But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Friday dismissed the suggestion, saying both countries had a common interest in ensuring healthy and stable ties. “China is willing to work with New Zealand on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit to promote the continued development of China-New Zealand relations,” Geng said.

    Noakes from the University of Auckland said he was not convinced ties had deteriorated, despite recent events. “The really unlucky thing is that the perceived souring of ties dovetails with commonly held misperceptions of what China is and what engagement with China means for New Zealanders.”

    Jason Young, director of New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre at the Victoria University of Wellington, had a more ominous take.

    “This can become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said. “We talk ourselves into having a bad relationship with China, and that’s quite dangerous.”

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  • Fosun Fashion Group launches company to help brands launch in China

    Fosun Fashion Group launches company to help brands launch in China

    Hong Kong-listed Chinese trading group Fosun has launched Fosun Fashion Brand Management Company (FFBM) to serve brands with ambitions to expand in the Greater China market. The new firm is offering full brand management services, covering retail and wholesale operations, merchandising, marketing and communications management, human resources and complete back office support. With an average of more than 15 years of operational experience in China, the FFBM team has successfully grown a number of fashion brands in China over the past two decades.

    “We are excited about FFBM. This is a major milestone for us at this critical stage in FFG’s development as we continue to expand our in-house operating capabilities,” said Joann Cheng, Fosun Fashion Group’s chairman. “The FFBM team brings a comprehensive set of operational experience spanning retail and digital in fashion, which will be invaluable as we enter this new phase of execution. This new platform provides FFG with a wider scope of competencies, and allow us to maximise control over brands’ performance in our own backyard enabling us to create incremental value for brands outside of their home markets.”

    FFBM’s CEO James Chen said that in recent years, China has become one of the core markets for many brands, and it will continue to thrive to become one of world’s top consumer markets.

    “Having lived and worked in China for the last 20 plus years, I am excited, now more than ever for the vision of Fosun Fashion Group as well as the fashion landscape in China.”

    The news comes less than a week after Fosun’s announcement of a takeover bid for German-listed fashion retailer Tom Tailor.

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  • Retail report says holiday sales were disappointing

    Retail report says holiday sales were disappointing

    Shoppers did not spend as much as expected this past holiday season. Holiday sales were up just 2.9 percent in 2018, the National Retail Federation said, on the heels of the Commerce Department announcing retail sales for December fell 1.2 percent, the largest decline since September of 2009. NRF, the retail industry’s trade organization, had been calling for 2018 holiday sales, those from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, to rise between 4.3 and 4.8 percent.

    “It appears that worries over the trade war and turmoil in the stock markets impacted consumer behavior more than we expected,” NRF President and CEO Matt Shay said in a statement. “There’s also a question of whether the government shutdown and resulting delay in collecting data might have made the results less reliable.”

    NRF said online and other nonstore sales were up 11.5 percent this past holiday season, while the group had been calling for growth of between 11 and 15 percent.

    It said sales, both in stores and online, were down 1.5 percent in November year over year, and in December were up just 0.9 percent. It added that October sales were up 5.7 percent year over year, but spending during that month isn’t included in NRF’s holiday sales tally.

    NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said the sales results were “truly a surprise” and “in contradiction to the consumer spending trends” NRF had been monitoring.

    The fresh retail sales data from the Commerce Department has, meanwhile, raised new concerns about a recession. But economists also say the biggest drop in nine years clashes with other data and may be suspect.

    NRF is still calling for retail sales, excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants, to climb between 3.8 and 4.4 percent this year, amounting to as much as $3.84 trillion.

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  • Hong Kong’s Link REIT Buys Shenzhen Mall for RMB 6.6B

    Hong Kong’s Link REIT Buys Shenzhen Mall for RMB 6.6B

    Link Asset Management has bought the Centralwalk shopping mall in Shenzhen’s CBD via its real estate investment trust. The RMB6.6 billion (US$981.9 million) transaction marks Link REIT’s first acquisition in Shenzhen, the second in the Greater Bay Area and its fifth in Mainland China, all in tier-one cities. Centralwalk is a five-storey retail centre in Shenzhen’s Futian District, home to the South China head offices of Fortune 500 companies, multinational corporations and leading domestic firms. The property sits atop two subway lines, providing a 14-minute link to Hong Kong and less than an hour to most parts of the Pearl River Delta region.

    “The acquisition marks another milestone in our expansion in China,” said Link CEO George Hongchoy.

    “Centralwalk is seated in the heart of the city’s booming commercial hub. It is strategically located at the juncture of two popular subway lines in Shenzhen and within a five-minute walk from the Futian high speed rail station. We see enormous upside potential in this asset as we will apply our expertise in asset enhancement and placemaking to attract footfall to this mall, unleashing its potential as a leisure and entertainment landmark in Shenzhen.”

    Upon settlement of the transaction next month, Link REIT will control approximately 5 million sqft of retail and office space in four tier-one cities on the Mainland: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, with Mainland Chinese assets representing about 13.1 per cent of Link’s total asset value.

    “The acquisition will enable us to capture the exponential growth spurred by the high speed rail link and the Greater Bay Area development,” Hongchoy added. “With diversification of markets, we continue to play to our strengths to offer investors steady income and long-term growth opportunities.”

    Centralwalk has a retail floor area of about 903,100sqft, and its retail occupancy currently stands at around 100 per cent. It has a gross monthly passing income of RMB 23.8 million as at December last year.

    The property houses a wide variety of familiar brands and a dynamic mix of retailers, covering food and beverage, fashion, accessories, education, lifestyle, health and beauty, a supermarket and a cinema.

    Link is anticipating the opportunity to enhance the property’s rental reversion and performance through trade-mix and tenant-mix upgrade, given that retail tenancies expiring in 2019, 2020 and 2021 represent approximately 25.5 per cent, 24.8 per cent and 18.0 per cent respectively.

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  • Asia markets rally as Trump delays China tariffs

    Asia markets rally as Trump delays China tariffs

    Shanghai led a rally across Asian markets Monday after Donald Trump said he would delay a hike in tariffs on Chinese goods citing “substantial progress” in trade talks and fuelling hopes of an end to their long-running stand-off. Optimism over the negotiations had already provided support to global equities, spurring a rally in January and February, but the president’s comments gave extra ammunition to investors to ramp up the buying.

    The news also fired currency markets with the yuan extending gains to a seven-month high, while other high-yielding, riskier units were also up against the dollar.

    Trump said on Twitter that the US “has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues”.

    He added: “As a result of these very productive talks, I will be delaying the US increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1.”

    The president also said he planned to hold a summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to sign a deal.

    China’s Xinhua news agency added that the two sides had “made substantial progress on specific issues” including on transfer of technology, intellectual property and agriculture.

    ‘Sigh of relief’

    In morning trade, Shanghai jumped 2.8% and Hong Kong added 0.4% while Tokyo ended the morning 0.7% higher.

    Sydney and Singapore each put on 0.1%, while Seoul was flat, Taipei added 0.4% and Jakarta rose 0.3%.

    The gains in Asia followed another positive lead from Wall Street, where the Dow enjoyed its ninth straight weekly gain – the longest streak since May 1995.

    “This is a sigh of relief,“ said Ben Emons, managing director for global macro strategy at Medley Global Advisors. “Markets will still keep a level of caution, but this news is encouraging,“ he said.

    The upbeat sentiment lifted high-risk currencies, with the yuan hitting its highest level against the dollar since July, while South Korea’s won, the Australian dollar and the Indonesia rupiah were also well up.

    Forex traders will be closely watching speeches this week from top Federal Reserve officials – including chairman Jerome Powell’s appearance in front of lawmakers – hoping for clues about the bank’s monetary policy plans.

    Wall Street “will be looking for soothing comments about the future size of the balance sheet – the bigger the better – and insights into future rate hikes”, said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.

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  • Foot Locker boosts capital expansion

    Foot Locker boosts capital expansion

    Foot Locker has announced a US$275 million capital expenditure program for this year, with Asia singled out as a target market. The investment is $75 million more than the US-headquartered sports-shoe and apparel retailer allowed for last year. “The capital spending planned for this year reflects increased investments in the company’s store fleet in all existing regions, including Asia, and in its digital initiatives,” the company said in a statement.

    “In addition, the company will continue to spend capital to build out its supply chain and other infrastructure capabilities.”

    Chairman and CEO Richard Johnson said Foot Locker sees “exciting opportunities” to invest in the business this year. The capital commitment followed decisions to launch a share buy-back program and to pay a dividend to shareholders.

    “Taken together, these actions demonstrate that our board is confident that Foot Locker can simultaneously deliver strong financial results, invest in the long-term growth of the business, and provide meaningful returns to our shareholders,” he said.

    Foot Locker currently operates 3221 stores in 27 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

    In Singapore, Foot Locker opened three stores last year, in Jem Mall, Century Square and Suntec City.

  • Warm weather blamed for worsening Bossini International loss

    Warm weather blamed for worsening Bossini International loss

    An unseasonably warm winter and weak consumer sentiment in core markets has been blamed for a more than doubling of losses for Bossini International in the six months to December. The casual-fashion retailer reported a 10 per cent decline in group revenue to HK$875 million (US$111.5 million) and a 5 per cent drop in same-store sales for the period. Gross profit fell 11 per cent and the loss attributable to shareholders ballooned from $12 million in the same period a year earlier to $26 million (US$3.3 million).

    Operating profit in the key Hong Kong and Macau market, where Bossini has 39 stores, improved, despite a 5 per cent decline in same-store sales.

    In Singapore, sales plummeted 23 per cent due to store closures. Same-store sales there fell by 6 per cent, in Taiwan by 7 per cent and in Mainland China by 3 per cent. Group-wide same-store sales fell by 5 per cent, worse than the 2 per cent of the December 2017 half.

    As at the end of last year, Bossini International had a total net retail floor area for directly managed stores of 362,000sqft, about 4000sqft less than a year earlier, across 295 stores, (11 more than a year earlier). It opened 114 franchised stores in markets outside Hong Kong and Macau, taking the total franchised network to 768.

    Hong Kong challenge

    Bossini chairman Man Kuen Bess Tsin said the significant decline in retail sales growth in Hong Kong since July and the negative impact of the devaluation of the Renminbi had impacted on the company’s sales in its home market, which accounts for 66 per cent of group revenue.

    “The Hong Kong retail market presented a cautious optimism if not a mixed picture. Strong inbound tourism, especially from Mainland China, was recorded in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, the consumption per capita started to drop in the third quarter, despite the annually increasing numbers of tourist arrivals in Hong Kong.”

    The group’s total net retail floor area in Hong Kong and Macau reduced from 125,800sqft to 121,600sqft, a decrease of 3 per cent, while sales per square foot slipped 5 per cent to $7200 (from $7600). Operating profit in Hong Kong and Macau was $17 million, up from $12 million for an operating margin of 3 per cent (compared with 2 per cent a year earlier).

    Mainland China revenue decreased 2 per cent.

    Bossini Singapore posted an operating loss of 5 million, 20 per cent more than the comparable period and the operating margin was negative 9 per cent.

    Cautious outlook

    Tsin said Bossini International management is “cautiously optimistic” about the year ahead.

    “However, in face of the complex and volatile global economy and geopolitics, the outlook is full of uncertainties. As an open economy, Hong Kong is particularly vulnerable to the impact of the global situation. At the same time, the local economy and consumption structure are also gradually changing.

    Challenges and opportunities coexist. The group is fundamentally strong with a healthy financial position, which is capable of facing the potential challenges.”

    Tsin said the export franchising business is a main focus of the group.

    “We will further expand and optimise the distribution network, leveraging the economy of scale in market reach and profitability.”

    The company will focus on introducing more new products and designs, with a focus on functionality at the core of its product strategy. Alongside the young adult segment, the company will develop more childrenswear lines to broaden its customer base and it will strengthen supply chain management to improve operational efficiencies.

  • The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative by jack Ma Foundation calls for applications in March

    The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative by jack Ma Foundation calls for applications in March

    The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) will officially call for applications starting from the 27th of March 2019. The ANPI is a US$10 million Prize competition for African entrepreneurs, founded by the Jack Ma Foundation. Each year for the next ten years, the Prize will host a pitch competition in Africa where ten finalists from across the continent will compete for US$1 million in total prize money.

    The Prize, which is supported by its continental partner Nailab, is focused on empowering a new generation of entrepreneurs, with a focus on small businesses, grassroots communities and women-founded enterprises.

    “The Netpreneur Prize Initiative has brought together a strong ecosystem of players to support both technology-driven and traditional businesses. We look forward to unveiling the full slate of regional partners and to receiving applications from promising African entrepreneurs in the coming weeks,” said Sam Gichuru, Founder and CEO, Nailab.

    All ten finalists will receive grant funding from the Jack Ma Foundation, as well as access to the Netpreneur community of African business leaders to leverage the community’s shared expertise, best practices, and resources.

    “By 2030, we hope to identify and shine a spotlight on 100 African entrepreneur heroes who will inspire the continent. From day one, our approach has been community-based and focused on inclusiveness; to be truly for Africans and by Africans. To realize these goals, we are excited to work with Nailab as our implementing partner in Africa and multiple African partners across to continent.”

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  • Rising active customer count gives Vipshop good impact

    Rising active customer count gives Vipshop good impact

    Chinese online discounter VIPShop is reaping the benefits of a 13 per cent increase in active customers last quarter to 32.4 million – well ahead of the 5 per cent full-year improvement. Its annual results released overnight showed net revenue soared 15.9 per cent last year to RMB84.5 billion (US$12.3 billion) and net income attributable to shareholders rose 9.2 per cent to RMB2.1 billion ($309.6 million). VIPShop says its Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) for the full year rose 21 per cent to RMB131.0 billion.

    “We are pleased to have finished the fourth quarter of 2018 with solid operational results,” said chairman and CEO Eric Shen.

    “Going forward, we will continue to strengthen our core capabilities, aiming to bring highly desirable selections of products to our valued customers on a daily basis, which will drive our long-term growth and profitability.”

    CFO Donghao Yang said the fourth quarter saw “a healthy sequential recovery” of VIPShop’s bottom-line, which was mostly attributable to a focus on the highly profitable apparel category.

    “During this quarter, we began to shift some low-margin categories from our first-party business into the marketplace platform, reducing their drag on our bottom-line while still delivering a solid GMV growth of 15 per cent year over year. We remain focused on stabilising our margins, aiming to drive enhanced shareholder return in the long run.”

    During the fourth quarter of last year, VIPShop added about 86,000sqm of warehousing space, taking its capacity to 3 million sqm.

    For the first quarter of the new year, the company expects net revenue to grow by up to 5 per cent, to between RMB19.9 billion and RMB20.9 billion.

  • Footasylum shares soar after JD Sports takes stake

    Footasylum shares soar after JD Sports takes stake

    Shares in Footasylum soared after British retailer JD Sports said it had acquired an 8.3 percent stake and could buy nearly 30 percent of its smaller rival. JD, which has used a number of corporate acquisitions to assemble its network of more than 2,400 stores over the past two decades, said that it “confirms it is not intending to make an offer for Footasylum” under merger regulations.

    But investors drove shares in the company, which is listed on the secondary market of the London Stock Exchange, rose 58.6 percent to 46 pence in the first hour of trading.

    Footasylum, started by JD Sports co-founder David Makin in 2005, was forced to cut prices at its 60 stores after a disappointing run up to Christmas which saw British consumers rein in spending.

    It now competes with JD Sports, Sports Direct and Asos among others, which are all feeling the impact of sluggish British consumer spending amid squeezed household incomes and uncertainty ahead of Britain’s impending exit from the European Union.

    Makin and fellow JD Sports founder John Wardle were bought out by the company’s current majority owners Pentland Group in 2005 and later resigned as directors.

    Footasylum said in January its full-year core earnings would come in at the lower end of analysts’ estimates.

    JD Sports shares were up about 1 percent at 454.03 pence.

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  • China’s Fosun makes bid for Tom Tailor

    China’s Fosun makes bid for Tom Tailor

    Hong Kong-listed Chinese trading group Fosun has launched a Tom Tailor takeover bid. Fosun has long held a cornerstone stake in the German-listed fashion retailer, which has several thousand stores, franchises and shops-in-shops around the world, trading under its own name selling men’s and women’s fashion and under the womenswear label Bonita. Its core markets are Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Southeastern Europe and Russia.

    Fosun said in a stock exchange filing that the Tom Tailor takeover bid follows an increase in its shareholding which will take its stake above the 35 per cent level which triggers a mandatory takeover offer under German law.

    In a statement, Fosun said it would benefit from the target company’s long-term growth potential.

    “The company considers the transaction to be an attractive investment in its sector as it sees economic potential in Tom Tailor.”

    Founded in Hamburg in 1962, Tom Tailor has encountered challenges in recent years. Its share price has plunged 80 per cent since January last year.

    The company focuses on mid-priced casual wear for men, women and children, accessories, and home textiles.

    Fosun has been expanding its interests in Europe in recent times, acquiring Lanvin last year, along with Austrian luxury lingerie brand Wolford. It also has a stake in menswear label Caruso.

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  • Zara campaign featuring model with freckles sparks debate in China

    Zara campaign featuring model with freckles sparks debate in China

    Spanish fashion retailer Zara appears to have inadvertently sparked off a social media furore over the appearance of freckled Chinese model Jing Wen in one of its recent ads. In China, spots on the face are generally considered blemishes and are associated with disease and old age. Freckles are somewhat rare. In a country where racial homogeneity is a touchstone for beauty, outliers – the bushy eyebrowed, the wavy haired – are unlikely to be considered attractive. In the fashion industry, however, it’s these outliers who tend to have the unique, striking looks that brands prefer for their ambassadors.

    Despite hating her freckles as a child, Guangzhou model Jing Wen eventually learned to accept and capitalise on her point of difference. As a model for such brands as Calvin Klein and H&M, her face has even been called “iconic” by China’s media. Even so, her recent work with Zara has produced an outcry among local netizens who claim the use of the model intentionally “uglifies” the Chinese people.

    A BBC report on the freckled Chinese model quoted some disgruntled users of the Weibo microblog as voicing their anger over the images. “Such pictures featuring an Asian model with freckles and an expressionless pie-shaped face mislead Westerners’ impressions about Asian women,” said one user, “and can lead to racism against Asian women.”

    A spokesperson for Zara interviewed by Pear Video website commented that the advertisements were targeted at their global market, and not specifically at China.

    “The aesthetics of the Spanish people are different,” they said, adding “our models are all photographed purely, the pictures aren’t changed, and they’re not modified.”

    Zara’s response has provoked considerable debate within China on the issue, with some claiming the model has been bullied only by her fellow Chinese, and that more should be done to help China’s people embrace beauty in diversity. Others have called into question the false patriotism of those too eager to mount an attack on foreign brands.

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