Another Three International Outdoor Brands Came To The Chinese Market

In China, sports and outdoor fashion continue to heat up. Over the past two months, HOKA ONE ONE, Sweaty Betty, and adidas TERREX entered into the Chinese market one after another.

In this issue, as we were exploring highlights of stores and brands, we found that “community” became the most prominent keyword.

HOKA ONE ONE

Quick Setup of New Stores In The Chinese Market

Within two months, the French outdoor sports brand HOKA ONE ONE opened three direct-sale stores in Shanghai, China. On 15 September, in Shanghai Jing An Kerry Center, the brand set up its first direct retail store in Greater China; on 15 October, in Jing’an Four Seasons located at Wujiang Road, Shanghai, the brand opened its first global direct experience store; the third store was established at the Huanmao iAPM mall.

KOKA ONE ONE was founded by Nicolas Mermoud and Jean-Luc Diard in France in 2009, and was bought by the American outdoor sportswear Group Deckers Brands, the parent company of UGG, in 2013. Dave Powers, CEO of Deckers said: “Compared to a few years ago, the Group has been growing fast, indicating the expanding presence of HOKA ONE ONE across the global market.”

According to Olivier Lorans,  HOKA ONE ONE’s General Manager in China sector, “Within the next five years, we’re planning to open around 200 new stores in China.”

HOKA brand states “to create diversed running community experience” is the concept that HOKA’s first global direct experience store is trying to get across and develop.

The direct-sale store located at Jing’an Four Seasons, Wujiang Road, the Nanjing West Road business district, is presented as a street shop, and focuses on “experience”. There is post-sport replenishment equipment and rest space, as well as a wall of lockers for storage of personal belongings. When runners come to the store, they can get changed at any time and be ready for a jog nearby.

Themed on “flying”, the store was designed to have a group of lights in the symbolic shape of a “flying bird” on the ceiling, and accompanied with indoor plants, creating a refreshing outdoor atmosphere. In the middle were four large wrapping and movable curved screens, and a treadmill that is prepared for runners to experience outdoor jogging under different virtual scenes.

It is said that the direct-sale experience store will organize group running activities and offline community experience in the long run, and invite sports lovers to share their stories and give sports guidance.

Sweaty Betty

Independent Store Will Not Be Far Away After the Pop-up Store

On 28 October, British female sportswear brand Sweaty Betty opened a pop-up store in Shanghai Jing An Kerry Center, and launched its China-limited series Sweaty Betty x Halle Berry rē∙spin that was collaborated with the Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry.

Sweaty Betty has always been dedicated to meeting the new needs of athletic women since it was founded in 1998. The brand is positioned to empower women, and therefore has always been focused on women consumers as its target clients, and never expanded to men’s products.

In February 2015, Sweaty Betty welcomed a major shareholder--- Catterton, an American private equity that focuses on the investment of consumer brands (in 2016, Catterton merged with LVMH’s private equity L Capital and became L Catterton). With the help of L Catterton, the brand becomes the first sports brand that went into America’s high-end department store Bloomingdale’s.

In August 2021, Wolverine World Wide, the parent company of Sperry and the giant in American shoe industry, announced its acquisition of Sweaty Betty with USD 4100 million.

In November 2019, Sweaty Betty opened its first store in Asia in IFC of Hong Kong, China. In January 2021, Sweaty Betty set up its official account of Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book); in February, the brand established its overseas flagship store on Tmall; in September, the brand announced that China’s fitness influencer SportyBitch became its brand ambassador.

adidas TERREX

The first flagship store in China

On 30 September, adidas TERREX, the specialized outdoor sports brand under adidas, opened its first flagship store in China, located in Shanghai Jing An Kerry Center, China. “Building a gathering place for communities of outdoor players under the concept of sustainable development” is the strategic position set up for the store.

In 2017, adidas Outdoor was officially changed to adidas TERREX. In the same year, it was announced that actor Youting ZHAO became the brand’s first ambassador in China.

“Sustainability” is the core element of the Jing An Kerry Center store. The emphasis is placed on the environmental protection concept that the brand advocates. The store is decorated with a large amount of living plants. The big LED screen on the ceiling can change scenes of outdoor settings at any time. In addition, hangers used in the store are all made of recycled plastics.

Within one month after the store was open, several activities themed on sustainability were held, for example the DIY classroom that transforms plastic waste, to spread brand values and stories, and to strengthen customers’ awareness of the brand theme. As the new connecting point between outdoor communities and adidas members, the flagship store will also encourage more people to join outdoor activities.

| Photo Credit: Brands

| Writer: Crystal You