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Danish fashion group Bestseller is a smash hit in China. Since the start-up of its Chinese branch in 1996 the group's three brands – Jack & Jones, VeroModa and Only – have been taken to heart by the 20- to 35-year-old members of China's growing middle class, and the Danish company now has over 2,000 stores spread across the Middle Kingdom. Bestseller's own explanation for its amazing success: Adaptation to the Chinese market.
"We've tailored the clothes according to Chinese body shapes, so it looks good on them," says Dan Friis, co-founder of Bestseller in China. "We've also focused on Chinese tastes, with their expectations of a high degree of trendiness and value of presentation. When they wear our clothes, they want to flaunt a certain lifestyle."
Mr. Friis founded Bestseller in China 12 years ago together with Allan Warburg and the Bestseller parent company in Denmark. Since then things have gone from good to better, but Dan Friis has to admit that it is hard work to keep up with Chinese market demands.
"China is an incredibly dynamic place. The market keeps on changing. That means an incredible amount of opportunities if you can keep up, but at the same time you constantly have to reinvent yourself. If you slow down, you're finished," says Mr. Friis. As a direct consequence of this Bestseller sends out 1,800 new products for each of the three brands every year, and a fourth brand, Selected, is getting ready to be launched in August.
"Last year we opened up 600 stores. Whether or not we'll be able to continue growing in that tempo remains to be seen, but we'll definitely keep on opening up new stores", says Dan Friis.
Full story in Danish
News category: Denmark
Published on this site: Jul. 19, 2008
Source:business.dk
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