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Lane Crawford shelves franchise on return
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Hong Kong’s luxury department store Lane Crawford is set to officially open a 14,000-square-meter store in Shanghai later this month, its largest store to date.
It marks the return of the upmarket chain to Shanghai after a seven-year absence.
Lane Crawford, which currently has five stores in Hong Kong and two in Beijing, is planning to open another new outlet in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, in the first half of next year.
Among the profile brands the store carries are Alexander McQueen, Alaia, Givenchy, Celine and Chole.
Andrew Keith, president of Lane Crawford, talked with Shanghai Daily about why the department store is returning to Shanghai and how it distinguishes itself from rivals.
Q: What made you decide to come back after leaving the Shanghai market seven years ago?
We felt the previous Lane Crawford franchise operations didn’t reflect our store because they were smaller and didn’t cover the full brand assortment, so we terminated the earlier franchise agreements.
We then opened our wholly owned Lane Crawford in Beijing in 2007, which was the first on the mainland directly under our management.
The Chinese market is evolving so quickly and consumers are leading the economic evolution. We saw in China an increasing awareness of brand and product exclusivity. The Chinese are looking for brands that are relatively rare in the market, and they are moving from purchases that are wealth displays to purchases that express themselves.
They have a good understanding and appreciation for what’s happening in the global fashion realm.
We feel the market is ready to support a Lane Crawford presence in Shanghai. We also have the right positioning in a prime location on Huaihai Road.
Q: What has changed in the fashion attitude of Chinese consumers and what’s special about them compared with other developed markets?
Consumers here are changing faster than in some developed regions. There’s a hunger to experience new products, whereas other markets that are more established are less driven by newness.
Here the market is very much about discovery and experiencing new products. A number of brands we work with are now basing their product development strategies on the trends they see here.
We are also constantly evolving our brand selection to reflect the quickly changing market.
Q: Have you been affected by the central government’s crackdown on public spending on luxury items?
We haven’t seen any impact because we’re a lifestyle-driven retailer, with over 70 percent of our business in women’s wear, fashion shoes and accessories, and beauty merchandise. The hard luxury items are a very small portfolio, so we don’t really feel the impact.
People usually come to our stores to buy for themselves. It’s a personal experience rather than a gift-giving experience.
Q: Shanghai already has quite a few upmarket department stores. How will you stand out?
We’re operating under the multi-brand buyers’ model because we buy all the merchandise and don’t lease out space.
We have an 85-member buying team that travels to all the major fashion capitals of the world looking for the best products. We base our selections on knowledge of our customers, and that allows us to create a store that reflects consumer trends. Our merchandise is significantly different from what you would see in a freestanding store or in a shop-in-shop. We also work with brands on exclusive products, so we can present a new retail experience to Chinese consumers.
Q: What’s your approach to online shopping?
Our website was launched two years ago after nearly three years of preparation. We now have about a million visitors to the site every month.
We see our online business an extension of our overall brand experience.
Currently we have about 95 percent of our women’s wear brands online, and we’re working toward having it all online. We may not be able to build physical stores to cover all cities, so for China in particular, our online offering will serve as a key sales channel to enable us to broaden the customer base.
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