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Tag: Shanghai

  • Arc’teryx Shanghai opens first global flagship

    Arc’teryx Shanghai opens first global flagship

    Performance apparel brand Arc’teryx has opened its first global flagship store in Shanghai, its largest store to date.

    Called the Arc’teryx Alpha Center, the store occupies an 8000sqft area, offering what the brand describes as an “experiential design and apparel from each of the brand’s performance, lifestyle, and Veilance collections”.

    “We wanted to create a shopping experience that was unique not only to our brand but also to our customers as well,” said Megan Cheesbrough, VP of Retail, Arc’teryx. “As a brand, we want to encourage everyone to enjoy the outdoors, and with this in mind, we’ve decided to bring the outdoors in by incorporating the concept of hut-to-hut touring into our store design.”

    The flagship features four different experiential huts. The Hardshell Hut is located at the store’s front, featuring a triangular kaleidoscope LED screen displaying views of the sweeping Canadian mountain landscape. The Gore-tex Hut features a “rain room,” allowing customers to try on and water-test the technical functions of Gore-tex products.

    While the Hardgoods Hut houses a selection of the brand’s hardgoods, the Brand Hut features a virtual reality module that changes seasonally, a community lounge, and an events board.

    “We want to create an unparalleled shopping experience at Arc’teryx Alpha Center, and one of the ways we could do this is to offer a selection of different products serving different purposes, all in one space,” said Cheesbrough. “Whether you’re looking for a pair of trail running shoes and a climbing harness, or an insulated hardshell and an urban-style coat, we want Arc’teryx to be available to everyone.”

    Arc’teryx operates 30 retail stores across China – 22 branded stores and seven factory outlets.

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  • Starbucks China opens first coffee outlet made of containers

    Starbucks China opens first coffee outlet made of containers

    Starbucks has just unveiled a new concept store in China created inside six repurposed shipping containers.

    An identical concept, created by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, first appeared in Taiwan. As the 800th store in Shanghai, the Starbucks container store helped set a new record for the city – it has more Starbucks stores than any other city in the world.

    The cafe is located at Shanghai’s Wisdom Bay Science Innovation Park, on space which was formerly home to warehouses and container storage yards.

    Today, the area has been gentrified, converting abandoned cargo containers into office spaces as well has housed the nation’s first museum of 3D printing.

    Elements of the Silicon Valley-esque structure have also been replicated inside the store to create ‘cultural coffee experiences’, an art gallery and a wall installation art piece created by a 3D printer.

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  • Loft launches in Shanghai

    Loft launches in Shanghai

    Japanese lifestyle specialty store Loft has opened its first directly owned overseas store, ‘Xujiahui Loft’ in Shanghai.

    Located at Metro City, the Xujiahui Loft Shanghai occupies a 1046sqm area. It features more than 12,000 products including Loft’s exclusive lines as well as limited-edition items commemorating the store’s grand opening and pre-sale goods.

    The Xujiahui Loft features ‘Loft Apartment’ where 18 Chinese independent designers will offer their originality in items such as stationary, mobile phone cases, and bags. Participating creators include Caro.Ni, eve.yin, Zengxiaoe, SummerBee and Square Studio.

    Moreover, there will be exclusive collaborative products based on Chinese cheese-tea brand Heytea’s popular drink “Mango Cheezo (mango cheese tea)” and Loft’s image colors, as well as a photo spot, according to the company.

    Loft in Shanghai will also house a pop-up pottery market “Hasami Porcelain Market,” displaying a wide selection of pottery items centering on Hasami porcelain from Nagasaki Prefecture, and “I’be one” pop-up store featuring Japanese characters themed products.

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  • Montblanc launches at Shanghai Plaza 66

    Montblanc launches at Shanghai Plaza 66

    Montblanc has launched a flagship boutique and a pop-up store in Shanghai, China. Located at Shanghai Plaza 66 on Nanjing Road, the store features a wide collection of Montblanc’s luxury goods, including travel bags, backpacks, watches, and accessories.

    The Shanghai Plaza 66 boutique features a modern design with black and gold elements.

    The Shanghai Plaza is also a location where Montblanc chose for its worldwide launch of M-Gram 4810 Collection. The CEO of Montblanc China, Daniel Chang, unveiled some photos of the pop-up store on his LinkedIn feed.

    Located in the main atrium, the pop-up store features a blue navy as the store’s theme color. A giant letter ‘M’ is displayed at the entrance of the store with the brand’s name in white on top. A large digital screen is installed on the side of the store, presenting videos of Montblanc’s products.

    The Montblanc’s pop up resembles a modern museum with a wide range of Montblanc items displayed on the wall.

    To promote the campaign, large banners are hung inside the mall, showing a photo of Montblanc’s global brand ambassador Chen Kun with the brand’s tagline ‘What moves you, makes you’

    The Shanghai Plaza 66 flagship’s facade was also re-designed, featuring the blue navy with ‘M’ pattern. Montblanc China also hosted the Montblanc 2020 Light Show in Hangzhou to promote the brand’s new collection.

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  • Ikea City store in Shanghai opens, a Chinese first for Swedish retailer

    Ikea City store in Shanghai opens, a Chinese first for Swedish retailer

    Swedish home-furnishing giant Ikea opens an Ikea City store in Shanghai today, its first such outlet in China.

    The Ikea City opening comes after the Ikea Tmall flagship launch in March as part of the brand’s strategy to broaden the ways it reaches Chinese customers, making the brand more accessible.

    Located in Jing’an district, the store spans three floors and occupies 3000sqm. It will feature a limited range of about 3500 products.

    “We’re seeking to diversify store formats, including online channels as well, to complement each other in order to test, learn and gain feedback from customers to fuel future growth,” Francois Brenti, VP of Ikea China said.

    “We have seen solid growth of online channels following the pandemic and we expect this to continue in the future,” he said.

    The new Ikea City Shanghai store will take the brand’s number of stores in the city to five.

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  • Saucony opens first store in Shanghai

    Saucony opens first store in Shanghai

    Heritage running shoe brand Saucony has opened its first store in Shanghai at Super Brand Mall.

    The company says the opening represents an important milestone in the brand’s development in China.

    The 122-year-old brand is actively expanding its Chinese retail network by entering major cities in order to cater to burgeoning demand from the country’s growing elite class.

    The start of business also marks a transition in Saucony’s marketing strategy from online stores to physical stores in the market, while raising awareness of the brand’s shoes and apparel in China. The company intends to follow through with more brick-and-mortar stores in other Chinese cities.

    The store was launched by management from Saucony and its local partner Xtep.

  • Permanent home opens for OnTheList Shanghai

    Permanent home opens for OnTheList Shanghai

    OnTheList Shanghai is about to open a permanent showroom in downtown Shanghai, just seven months after the flash-sale pioneer made its debut in the Chinese city.

    After launching its first event last September, OnTheList Shanghai has been working on developing a more long-term presence and building brand awareness through pop-up events there, as part of a region-wide expansion program.

    The new 1000sqm OnTheList Shanghai store will open at Jiangning Road 293 in Shanghai’s famed Jing’an district.

    Co-founder & CFO Diego Dultzin Lacoste describes the store as “a luminous space with an exclusive design which places the customer experience at the heart of its strategy”.

    Given consumers are opting to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic, OnTheList will also hold flash-sale events online, via its WeChat mini program.

    Last September, OnTheList Shanghai debuted with a flash sale on behalf of fashion distributor ImagineX, featuring the brands Club Monaco and Juicy Couture. Products were discounted by up to 90 percent.

    OnTheList turned four in January and during that time has expanded from running short-term sales in pop-up spaces to having its own permanent stores in Hong Kong’s Central, and expanding into Singapore and Taiwan.

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  • Shanghai Fashion Week goes digital with Alibaba

    Shanghai Fashion Week goes digital with Alibaba

    Shanghai Fashion Week is partnering with Alibaba’s B2C marketplace Tmall to hold its first fully digital event due to restrictions on gatherings caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

    The entire roster of runway shows will be streamed online on Tmall from March 24–30. More than 150 international brands and designers will showcase their latest autumn-winter collections via the Alibaba Group digital platforms.

    Readers can watch the opening show of Shanghai Fashion Week here tonight (March 24) at 6pm Beijing time via Taobao Live from your phone or computer watchers of this year’s Shanghai Fashion Week can immediately purchase the items they see on the runway without having to wait for the collections to hit the shelves.

    “We have integrated some of Alibaba’s most advanced technologies to bring a new and elevated experience to consumers,” said Tmall Fashion and FMCG GM Mike Hu. “This partnership with Shanghai Fashion Week allows us to leverage our experience in digitizing brick-and-mortar retail stores and explore a new format for the brand and product launches, bringing together technologies like live-streaming, short-form videos, DingTalk and Tmall Flagship Store 2.0 in a full-chain solution.”

    Covid-19 has forced the cancellation and rescheduling of many global fashion events, including the Milan Fashion Week originally scheduled for February

    Tmall intends for its “cloud launch” format to broaden out the reach and appeal of traditional product-launch events this year. According to material released by the firm, brands will interact with consumers virtually across an extended timeline and physical locations, from warm-up previews to the live broadcast and post-event interviews.

    The platform plans to team up with global brands to launch 360-degree marketing campaigns that cater to Chinese audiences, said Hu.

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  • Shanghai Fashion Week to continue despite coronavirus threat

    Shanghai Fashion Week to continue despite coronavirus threat

    Shanghai Fashion Week organizers announced that the event will proceed after early fears it would be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

    The organizers released a statement saying Shanghai Fashion Week will be held on the same dates earlier scheduled: March 24-30.

    Since the coronavirus crisis began in late January, Chinese fashion industry professionals have been unable to participate in fashion weeks held in London, Milan, and Paris. But they are expected to participate in the coming event where more than 100 Chinese designers and brands are expected to showcase their 2020 Autumn/Winter designs.

    Live Streaming is also expected to be used in marketing their Spring/Summer products.

    “We hope this new form will allow designers to try different ways to display their design and different channels to market and sell,” vice secretary of Shanghai Fashion Week committee, Lu Xiaolei said.

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  • Shanghai retail sales slowly returning to normal after coronavirus outbreak

    Shanghai retail sales slowly returning to normal after coronavirus outbreak

    Roughly a third of the 11,000 stores in Shanghai that closed for the coronavirus outbreak has opened for business.

    Among the reopening stores is Starbucks’ largest global outlet, Starbucks’ Reserve Roastery, which attracted daily queues before the epidemic. The store, which counts as a tourist attraction in its own right, opened just one of its doors on Wednesday – although its air conditioner remains off.

    All 57 Starbucks stores in the area have been working with officials to protect staff and customers as the outbreak continues. Half of the Reserve Roastery tables have been removed to keep customers at a distance from each other.

    “Well on the way to containing COVID-19, Shanghai is gradually returning to normal,” reported local English-language media Shine News. However, it said local residents are still taking precautions to protect themselves from infection.

    “I feel like a vegetable after being stuck at home for so many days,” said one elderly customer. “I miss these butter cookies so much. But I’ve learned from the news that we should take protective measures, so I’m wearing a mask and gloves.”

    “It’s always of vital importance to keep a balance between epidemic control and resumption of business, so we have to provide a good service,” said Jing’an Market Regulation director Chen Ping.

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  • Shanghai Seeks Fintech Hub Status in Five Years

    Shanghai Seeks Fintech Hub Status in Five Years

    The Shanghai government announced a series of policies to motivate firms and talent while formally challenging the similar ambitions of nearby Hangzhou.

    Shanghai’s municipal government is taking an admittedly expedited path, according to a report citing a statement, to becoming a fintech center and will accelerate this development through a series of incentives including a tax cut on related tech firms to 15 percent (from 25 percent) and attractive housing and medical benefits to lure talent.

    Ant Financial, Hangzhou’s homegrown fintech pioneer, also announced yesterday that it would host a fintech conference to support Shanghai’s efforts with expectations to draw up to 30,000 global attendees. The «INCLUSION» conference held in late April will cover themes such as the global digital economy, digital finance, innovative technology, commerce and cities, and sustainability.

    Shanghai’s plans parallel that of Hangzhou’s which is also aiming to be a major hub in the field. In May last year, its local government delivered a plan in to transform the city into a global fintech center by 2030 while leveraging the sector to provide 120 billion yuan ($17.4 billion) in added value to the economy by 2022.

  • RELX China flagship set to open in Shanghai

    RELX China flagship set to open in Shanghai

    E-cigarette company RELX Technology has opened its first RELX China flagship and says it aims to have 10,000 stores globally within three years.

    Located in Shanghai’s CBD, the RELX China flagship occupies a 140sqm area, creating a space to educate existing adult smokers and vapers on RELX vapor products.

    “Consumers nowadays prefer immersive shopping experiences, and we want to make this flagship a place where we can not only better communicate with them about our product and values but also better understand their needs,” said Wang Tao, head of RELX’s new retail business.

    According to Wang, RELX will launch stores in various cities, such as Beijing’s 798 art hub and Shenzhen’s Hai Gang Cheng, to provide what he describes as “avant-garde experiences” to consumers.

    The RELX flagship features four zones including a brand experience area, a consumer education area, an interactive zone, and a device-engraving service. The store uses a facial-recognition technology called Project Sunflower to identify minors attempting to enter the store. Customers also have to undergo another layer of verification to ensure their ID matches before making a purchase.

    RELX says it plans to invest RMB 500 million in establishing 10,000 stores globally over the next three years.

    “RELX is investing heavily in breakthrough technologies to enhance franchisees’ profit margins and increase consumer loyalty during the course of its brick-and-mortar expansion,” said Jiang Long, co-founder and head of sales at RELX. “As always, our focus will remain on preventing minors from using e-cigarette products and leading the path of innovation for the entire industry by developing advanced retail technology.

    Launching its first retail store last January, RELX China operates more than 1400 outlets across 300 cities.

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  • Harrods opening store in Shanghai

    Harrods opening store in Shanghai

    British department store Harrods will open a location in Shanghai.

    According to Retail Gazette, the store will be the brand’s first standalone site outside the UK and will target China’s growing middle class.

    “If you look at all of the reports, they say, quite categorically that all of the growth in the next five years is going to come from Southeast Asia. And is going to come from millennials,” said Harrods MD Michael Ward. “So we’ve got to go after that. It’s very important that you follow the money. We see continued growth of China, but we see a need to be a more permanent resident in China.”

    Harrods has been making investments in China for a decade, and will launch in the Pudong area in response to strong consumer demand. The store will serve private shoppers targeting the high-end market.

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  • Galeries Lafayette Shanghai opens with three-week long festival

    Galeries Lafayette Shanghai is mid-way through a three-week-long opening celebration featuring art, technology, European brands, and celebrities.

    After a high-profile opening ceremony, the new store at L+Mall in the Pudong financial district is now hosting a campaign titled Let’s Celebrate Fashion featuring a rolling program of events, limited-edition collaborations and exclusive products.

    A spokesperson for Galeries Lafayette’s China partner I.T Group described the new store as “a piece of the romantic Paris grafted onto the modern cityscape of Shanghai … with quintessential Parisian style”.

    “The store stands out with the chic setting of a Parisian street, where customers soak up the immersive lifestyle of the City of Light as they saunter through consignment stores, alongside landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and street-side bistros.”

    Galeries Lafayette Shanghai features ornamental patterns designed by French graffiti artist André Saraiva which boosts the dramatic setting of the space. Saraiva’s motifs include the Eiffel Tower and a French bistro.

    Galeries Lafayette Shanghai has also collaborated with French fashion house Paco Rabanne as an official partner for the opening. In an immersive, experiential journey, visitors can pose for photos in an interactive snapshot booth and share them on social media.

    A Creative Theme Park co-presented with Ryodan by Seiya Nakamura 2.24 Inc is another opening feature. Inspired by traditional children playgrounds in Paris, the pop-up exhibition draws together eight emerging designers, who were given creative carte blanche in their own renditions of current fashion trends. Brands participating in the theme park include Fumito Ganryu, We11Done, Random Identities by Stefano Pilati, Namacheko, Stefan Cooke, Koche, Feng Chen Wang and Mame Kurogouchi.

    To mark the 120th anniversary of Galeries Lafayette, the Shanghai store features a recreation of the glass walk and Art Deco dome of the Paris store where visitors can take selfies with Parisian landmarks.

    Galeries Lafayette Shanghai is open daily

  • Peet’s Coffee opens 60’s-inspired Shanghai pop-up store

    Peet’s Coffee opens 60’s-inspired Shanghai pop-up store

    US coffee chain Peet’s Coffee has launched a pop-up cafe in Shanghai, inspired by the design of its heritage store in California.

    The Peet’s Coffee pop up offers a wide selection of coffees and experiences, including personalized t-shirts, tote bags with distinctive patterns influenced from the 1960s period. A photo booth was installed inside the store for the customer to take photos and print out or share on social media.

    “This Peet’s Coffee pop-up experience showcases the power of experiences in transporting audiences to a different time and place, and bringing the origins of the brand to life,” said Matalie Ackerman, executive VP of design agency Jack Morton Greater China.

    Peet’s Coffee also offers live music performed by buskers outside the pop-up store to add to the retro vibe.

    To explain the message behind the brand’s legacy approach, marketing director of Peet’s Coffee China Elaine Liu said: “When Alfred Peet opened his first coffee bar in Berkeley, California in 1966, he established our long-standing commitment to roasting the highest-quality coffee and Peet’s continues to stay true to that in China.”

    Peet’s Coffee is planning to expand into other cities in China in the future.