Outdoor garments, warm outlook
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Local labels catch up with the country's growing demand for outdoor sports products, sharing about half of the market. Provided to China Daily |
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"China is one of the largest markets for Northland at present. We are here to celebrate the brand's 40-year anniversary," says the brand's founder Gerwalt Pichler, who flew from Austria to Beijing for the event.
Outdoor brands entered the Chinese mainland market in the late 1990s and early 2000s, much later than the luxury and fashion labels.
The North Face entered the market in 2000 under a licensing model, which means the brand did not open a store, but collaborated with its partners in China. In 2007, VF took over the business and started direct operation of The North Face brand. The same year, the brand saw a remarkable sales growth of 150 percent since the takeover.
Northland shares a similar path. It entered the Chinese market with partners in 2003, and now has several hundred stores in the country. Though the company did not reveal its specific sales figures, Pichler says China enjoys stable growth every year, and the country will be the brand's future focus.
The North Face's Feltracco says the outdoor garments are experiencing the second phase of its marketing in China.
"The first phase was the first four to five years, so we established and we raised The North Face flag. We have opened stores in mostly first- and second-tier cities. Now we have Phase 2, which is to continue to grow. It is very important to understand Chinese consumers, and we can give them the right things and what they really want. Overall, we are investing in the second phase," Feltracco says.
