Dialogue President Andrew Keith

< p style= "text-align: center" > < img border= "0" align= "center" alt= "" src= "" /uploadimages/201311/05/20131105085713_sj.JPG "/" < > > "

The P flagship store is located in the Shanghai Times Square, 99 Huaihai Middle Road, with an area of 150000 square feet (about 14000 square meters), with a total of four floors.

The flagship store will bring together more than 500 international brands, including women's clothing, beauty, jewelry, men's wear and lifestyle.

This is the richest international luxury and designer brand portfolio in Greater China.

< /p >

< p > the flagship store has an investment of about four hundred million RMB, which is the eighth store in the Greater China region, including 5 in Hongkong and 2 in Beijing.

The reporter interviewed Andrew Keith, President of Lac Crawford, to explore the business model of Lane Crawford alone.

< /p >

< p > reporter: Why did Lian Crawford choose the time now and choose Huaihailu Road to open Shanghai flagship store? "/p".

< p > Andrew Keith: we have had a history of more than 160 years in the Greater China region. In our eyes, this market needs time precipitation, enough patience, and timing to take action to do well.

We need to find a space of 150 thousand square feet, which is not so easy to find in Shanghai.

In addition, we feel that the development status of Huaihailu Road itself and this business circle can provide us with the best shopping area and location, whether it is the surrounding residential areas, < a href= "http://www.91se91.com/news/index_c.asp" > high-end retail, /a, retail or delicious food and beverage industry.

< /p >

< p > reporter: we also know that a few years ago, "a href=" http://www.91se91.com/news/index_c.asp "Lian Cai Fu" /a "also chose to open a shop in Shanghai, also in Huaihailu Road, but later decided to withdraw from Shanghai market.

Why? < /p >

< p > Andrew Keith: at that time we opened a store in Shanghai by franchising.

At that time, the Shanghai store failed to reflect the core mode of Lian Kai Fu.

We decided to take back these brands and terminate all the franchise agreements, and we closed all the stores.

For China's flagship stores, we are directly responsible for the operation of the store and have full power to invest in shops.

In 2007, we opened the first flagship store in Beijing, which is directly linked by lac Crawford, and Shanghai will follow.

< /p >

< p > reporter: it has been many years now.

Shanghai market and yourself are different, so I also want to know what changes have taken place in Shanghai in your eyes, and what changes have taken place in yourself. < /p >

< p > Andrew Keith: we have more than more than 500 brands, many of which are not widely known, and many of them are brand names. There are many brands that consumers have just begun to understand.

Shanghai, an international metropolis, is becoming more and more globalized and consumers are becoming more and more mature. This also promotes the 150 thousand square foot l'carver flagship store we built in Shanghai, larger than any other company.

These consumers are looking for unusual products, new products, exclusive products, and not too popular products, which is what Lian koff can really bring to consumers.

But this is not just the product itself, but it also represents a retail experience in my eyes. Chinese consumers are very eager to enjoy continuous improvement in service level. [suggestions include lancford's exclusive platinum service and professional personal image consultancy services, etc.) related to Carver's customer service data].

< /p >

P: reporter: we've heard many people complain that Chinese customers are obsessed with big brands.

Do you have any communication with your target customers in Shanghai? What do you think of his (her) interest in big brand names? < /p >

< p > Andrew Keith: we do see that our customers are not looking for those big brands. They are looking for different products and new products. They are looking for a new brand.

Because I think LC Crawford's customers want to show themselves rather than follow the crowd. They want to show their own aesthetic style, which is what they experience in the company.

< /p >

< p > reporter: can you tell me about your business mode and purchase team?

Because many shopping center developers do not buy products, they just rent stores to various brands.

< /p >

< p > Andrew Keith: our business model is 100% based on the so-called owner buying system (own-bought), which means that you see that all products in the flagship store are purchased by us.

We and many of our brands are important global partnerships, because we have plenty of purchasing actions from them.

< /p >

< p > we will not consider leasing our shops. These spaces are owned by us. We can also make all the arrangements we want.

Compared with the classic leasing mode, this mode is more vivid and dynamic. When we understand the market and assess risks in detail, we also have the opportunity to introduce more new brands and bring different kinds of consumers' unexpected products into the market in various ways.

< /p >

< p > reporter: does this bring some pressure to your cash flow? < /p >

< p > Andrew Keith: I think our business model has been developed for many years, and this business model also takes into account that there will be a 3-6 month cycle before you get the return on investment.

This means that no matter when we make the choice of these commodities, we will consider the factors of buyer's role and buyer's function, and having a strong commodity team is very important for success, because this team is positioned in the future.

Therefore, the investment return cycle is taken into account in our previous considerations and the selection process.

< /p >

< p > reporter: OK, then what are your future plans? I heard that you intend to open flagship stores in Chengdu too.

Is there any other city's plan? < /p >

< p > Andrew Keith: we will also open a store in Chengdu in the first half of next year. The 82000 square foot Chengdu flagship store is located in the prime location of Chengdu. And we feel that Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu stores are fully consistent with the core location of Lian Crawford.

This strategy in our network business, that is, our joint business strategy, will enable us to penetrate into all Chinese customers, those who do not necessarily have the opportunity to come to the store in person.

After that, we will focus on other growth opportunities.

I think what we consider is that the area of 150 thousand square feet is not so easy to find, but then we will seize every opportunity and review every opportunity whenever there is a chance.

< /p >

< p > reporter: do you have any goals in mainland China? When are you going to make profits? < /p >

< p > Andrew Keith: we have 163 years. What we are looking for in China is long-term positioning rather than short-term economic benefits.

And I think we are fully committed to the establishment of business in China, and we hope there will be some profit in the future.

This is a game, not a game. China needs a lot of time to be patient.

I think you can't think of this as a quick return market, but it takes a lot of time to build business, to build relationships with customers, to build a strong business here.

We understand this.

For the shops in Beijing, we plan to run the business in 5 years. In fact, they have a balance in the period, so we are satisfied with the performance of stores in Beijing.

< /p >

< p > reporter: what do you think of e-commerce? < /p >

< p > > a href= "http://www.91se91.com/pioneer/" > Andrew Keith < /a >: the most exciting thing about the electricity supplier is that it does show us amazing growth.

So let me see, China's growth in e-commerce is very small. In the past two years, it has achieved three digit growth.

The whole greater China region, or China, provides a large part of the driving force.

So consumers definitely like the electricity supplier.

However, our strategy has always believed that the electricity supplier is not an independent business, but an extension of Lian Fu.

So we are adopting the business strategy of two links, meaning that products are sold both online and in real stores, and the products are complete.

Now we have 95% fashion products, shoes and accessories on the Internet, men's wear and beauty products.

We will soon sell our home products online, so that after a few months, all the products can be purchased around the world.

< /p >