LADY M's existing stores in China will all be closed in September. Yesterday was the day when LADY M "brushed the screen". On July 2 1 day, LADY M, a brand in online celebrity, issued an announcement about the closure of stores in mainland China. LADY M's existing stores in China will all be closed in September.
All LADY M's existing stores in China will be closed in September1July 2 1 day. Shanghai Muxin Catering Management Co., Ltd., the exclusive operator of LADY M in China, announced that all LADY M's physical stores in China will be closed on September 10, 2022. As mentioned in the announcement, "LADY M brand insists on requiring all stores in mainland China to stop operating", which deeply regrets the company. However, Beijing Youth Daily reporter learned that this may be a prelude for LADY M to directly operate the China market.
At noon on July 2 1 day, Shanghai Muxin Catering Management Co., Ltd., the exclusive operator of LADY M's brand products in China, said that at the request of LADY M's brand, all existing stores in LADY M's mainland China will be closed on September 10, 2022. However, consumers can still spend money at LADY M physical stores and online applets (including normal use of LADY M prepaid cards) before the termination of business.
#LADY M's withdrawal from the mainland of China # also quickly rushed to the hot search. The Beijing Youth Daily reporter noticed that shortly after the news was released, many LADY M's store cake products on the Beijing takeaway platform showed "sold out", and some stores only had drinks to provide takeaway. In the company's small program, although there are still many products to choose from in the service of making an appointment to pick up the cake, when placing an order, it shows "Today's store inventory is sold out". The whole cake reservation service will not be available until July 23rd.
At present, there are three LADY M stores in Beijing. The staff in Huamao Store are also busy packing cakes. "Orders suddenly increased after noon today. Regarding the closing of the store, we also know it from the Internet, and the specific situation is not clear. " The staff said. Some customers are worried that the cards they bought can't be returned, so they hurry to buy cakes, and there are also consumers who come to punch in because the store is closing.
The company's customer service phone number is either unanswered for a long time or prompted as "inconvenient to answer, please leave a message".
Beijing Youth Daily reporter learned that LADY M is an American cake online celebrity brand because of its thousand-layer cake being sought after in the United States. On September 20 17, LADY M opened its first store in China Mainland of Shanghai International Finance Center. It used to be a "online celebrity" cake, and it took six hours to queue up to buy it. The scalper increased the price of each cake by hundreds of yuan.
In fact, even if the price of its cakes is not increased, it is at the high price of cakes in chain baking stores. The price of a corner-cut cake is mostly in 75 yuan, and the price of a 6-inch cake is mostly in 530 yuan, which is called "Hermes in the cake industry" by netizens.
However, the closure of the existing stores may not mean that LADY M completely bid farewell to the China market. According to foreign media reports, Lady M will fully adopt the direct mode to operate the inland areas of China. According to the news, LADY M has been cooperating with authorized partner Shunliyuan (Shanghai) Business Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shunliyuan) since it entered Chinese mainland on 20 17. The license agreement between Shunliyuan and LADY M expired on April 9, 2022 and was not renewed.
LADY M said that it plans to turn its business into 100% direct operation. Ken Romaniszyn, CEO of LADY M, said, "LADY M is looking forward to leading the business in China, and the China market is crucial to our growth strategy. "Lady M looks forward to promoting China's business in a direct way, which is the key to our development strategy. We will continue to serve our loyal customers and maintain our brand standards. "
LADY M's existing stores in China will all be closed in September. A notice of termination of business has made online celebrity brand LADY M the topic king again. On July 2 1 day, the mainland official of LADY M said that all the physical stores in China would be closed on September 2022 10. However, there are also different voices about the store closing: the brand side takes back the right to operate and operates the stores in the inland areas of China in a direct mode. The analysis points out that no matter who owns the operation right, R&D ability and continuous innovation are the key to maintain its long-term vitality.
Termination of operation
Yesterday was a day of being "screened" by Lady M. On July 2 1 day, LADY M, a brand in online celebrity, issued an announcement about the closure of stores in mainland China. According to the announcement, Shanghai Pastoral Catering Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shanghai Pastoral Catering") is authorized by LADY M Confessions Co., Ltd., and as the exclusive operator of LADY M brand products in China, it is now required by LADY M brand to close all existing stores in China.
With regard to the specific time of store closure, Shanghai Pastoral Salary indicated that all physical stores of LADY M in China will be closed on September 10, 2022, which is the date of termination of payment of LADY M prepaid cards. Consumers can still spend money at LADY M physical stores and online applets (including normal use of LADY M prepaid cards) before the business termination date. Consumers who have not finished using LADY M prepaid cards before the redemption termination date can apply for card refund according to the process.
Regarding the future development plan of LADY M, the relevant person in charge in the Mainland of LADY M told the beijing business today reporter that the official announcement shall prevail.
It is worth noting that Shanghai Pastoral Salary emphasized in the announcement that LADY M brand insisted that all stores in China should be terminated, so it had to make relevant arrangements to terminate the operation of LADY M stores in China.
Subsequently, a reporter from beijing business today visited LADY M Beijing Huamao Shopping Center, which was still in normal business as of press time. Regarding the above announcement, the store staff said, "I just learned this news." It is still unclear when the store will be open, and everything will be subject to the official announcement.
It is understood that LADY M, a cake shop that started in new york, USA in 2004, is called "Hermes" in the cake industry. According to different tastes, the sales price of LADY M cakes can be divided into 68 yuan and 75 yuan, which is almost three times as high as that of other brands in the market.
In 20 17, LADY M opened its first store in mainland China, and then opened its first store in Beijing in 20 18. As of July 12, 2022, LADY M has 3 stores in Beijing * * *.
Triggering the conjecture of brand operation authority
LADY M with its own aura attracted attention and pursuit when it first entered the China market in 20 17, and even set off a queuing craze when it entered the Beijing market. However, since last year, LADY M seems to have begun to adjust in the domestic market.
Last year 10, LADY M stores located in Sanlitun, Chaoyang Joy City and Xidan Joy City in Beijing were all closed, including the first store in Beijing. The relevant person in charge of LADY M also affirmed this change and said that it was being adjusted. In fact, judging from the above-mentioned closed stores, they include not only several "veteran" stores when they first entered the Beijing market, such as the first store in Beijing and the first store in North China, but also stores in the core areas of various business districts.
At that time, when the above situation happened, there was a voice that "LADY M closed and adjusted the stores that were originally located in popular business districts, which had a great relationship with its unsatisfactory operation".
However, judging from the announcement, the reason for the termination of the operation of China mainland stores mainly comes from the requirements of LADY M brand, and one of the reasons may also be related to the brand operation authority. According to foreign media reports, LADY M will fully adopt the direct sales model in mainland China. The five-year license contract of the original China Mainland licensee expired on April 9, 2022 and will not be renewed. However, for this statement, the relevant person in charge of LADY M did not respond.
Wen Zhihong, a senior chain industry expert, pointed out that the high-end baking market is relatively small, and the frequency of consumption is not very high. LADY M has a high price, and its products are relatively single. Entering the mainland market in China only causes the online celebrity effect in a short period of time. If this adjustment is to recover the right to operate, on the one hand, the brand may be dissatisfied with the operation of the agency and worried that the brand will be negatively affected. On the other hand, the move also released a signal that the brand still has confidence in the China market.
Light investment, heavy marketing.
LADY M has entered the China market for about five years, and at the same time, it has gradually revealed the problem of how to support the expansion of the market and stores. For example, on social platforms, some consumers questioned LADY M's taste, cost performance and update speed.
For online celebrity brand, product quality, R&D ability and consumption experience are its core competitiveness to maintain "evergreen".
Lai Yang, chief expert of the research base of Beijing International Trade Center, said that many brands will choose to authorize third-party companies when they enter new markets. When they see the market potential, they will change their brands to direct sales mode and leave the market in person.
"At present, many online celebrity brands are' light research and development, light investment and heavy marketing', putting the cart before the horse." Lai Yang said, however, many brands in online celebrity have a short life cycle, which requires brands to match product pricing with quality, and at the same time, constantly introduce explosive products that meet the diverse needs of consumers, so as to maintain the long-term development of brands and bring consumers a steady stream of fresh experiences.
Wen Zhihong further pointed out that as far as LADY M is concerned, the repurchase rate of consumers is very important. If there is no business model suitable for the local market layout, it will be difficult to continue to operate. In fact, not only LADY M, but also online celebrity brands need to find a supporting business model to support their sustainable operation and development if they want to maintain their long-term vitality.
LADY M's existing stores in China will all be closed in September. 3 LADY M, known as "Hermes in the cake industry", will withdraw from the mainland market in China?
At noon today, the "LADY M Mainland Official" WeChat official announced that all physical stores in LADY M China will stop operating on September 10, 2022, which was an arrangement that had to be made at the request of LADY M brand. Previously, it was reported that Lady M would fully adopt the direct mode to operate the inland areas of China and slide up and down to check.
According to the announcement, September 10 is also the termination date of LADY M prepaid card. At present, consumers can still spend money in their physical stores and online applets before the termination of business. Cardholders who have not used the LADY M prepaid card before the payment termination date can go through the procedures of card refund and fee refund online. After the announcement, the topic quickly boarded the hot search.
Some netizens think that LADY M is a very ordinary cake, but the price is surprisingly expensive.
Some netizens said that this is intended to withdraw the authorization to do direct sales, not to withdraw from the mainland market.
The reporter came to LADY M Xintiandi Store, and the clerk said that after the announcement today, the store was temporarily closed because there were too many takeaways. The reporter interviewed the little brother who took meals at the store, and said that many orders of LADY M suddenly exploded today. The reporter learned that LADY M Xintiandi Store is still in normal operation, but the lease of the brand and shopping mall will naturally expire in the near future, and then normal lease replacement will be carried out.
LADY M Xintiandi branch Image source: Public Comment LADY M has * * * stores in Shanghai 10, which are opened in several high-end shopping malls in Shanghai IFC Center, Xintiandi, Ganghui hang lung plaza, Global Port, iapm and Lujiazui Center. Miss Liao, a citizen, said that she often goes to Hong Kong to exchange hang lung plaza's LADY M Rose Melaleuca and Matcha Melaleuca are all her favorite tastes.
"I just had afternoon tea with my girlfriend at the weekend. The 198 yuan package includes two drinks and two cakes. The price/performance ratio is ok and the environment is good."
"It's a pity to close the store. I'm going to order a cake on the applet and have a aftertaste."
In addition to Shanghai, LADY M has opened and operated a number of stores in Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places. These physical stores and online sales networks will all be terminated. At the beginning of its opening, LADY M was added with various auras such as Hermes in the Melaleuca Cake Industry and new york Ladies' Sweet Shop. The price of single Melaleuca Cake for LADY M is three times higher than that of other brands in the market in 68 yuan and 75 yuan.
On September 20 17, the opening of LADY M's first store in China Mainland of Shanghai Guojin Center once triggered an extremely hot consumption scene. The scene of queuing for six hours just to taste a piece of Melaleuca cake and even increase the price of scalpers has become a phenomenon in online celebrity stores.
Why did the once-popular brand close its stores in mainland China? From the announcement, we can get a glimpse of the clue. Shanghai Pastoral Salary Catering Management Co., Ltd. said in the announcement.
Our company deeply regrets the decision of LADY M brand to insist on the termination of all stores in China, and accordingly we have to make relevant arrangements to terminate the operation of LADY M stores in China.
The reporter learned that in 20 17, Shanghai Pastoral Catering Management Co., Ltd. introduced LADY M brand to China Mainland for the first time, but the five-year license contract expired on April 9, 2022, and the brand decided not to renew it. In June this year, Bloomberg reported that LADY M will conduct a new round of financing with a valuation of 600 million US dollars, with a scale of 20 million US dollars. Bloomberg also quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the new round of funds will be mainly used to expand the market share in Asia, other baking brands in strategic acquisitions and open more stores in China.
"In the future, Lady M will launch concept stores in more innovative and a richer product line." CEO Ken Romaniszyn, CEO of Lady M Group, also said in an interview with the media a few days ago: "In order to continuously provide the highest quality and best service to consumers in mainland China who love Lady M brand, Lady M Group will lay out this important strategic area in mainland China in a direct way."
Competition in domestic baking industry tends to be heated up.
In the near future, if LADY M returns to the mainland market of China in a direct mode, will you still choose it? I'm afraid this question is not easy to answer. In fact, the development of LADY M can be called "high opening and low walking".
Image source: China Baking Team has become an extremely "curly" market. International brands have accelerated their entry, new domestic consumer brands have emerged one after another, and traditional baking has accelerated its innovation. Even coffee and tea brands have crossed the border, and the competition has become fierce. In the past five years, the pace of international brands entering Shanghai and China has never stopped.
Take shanghai new world as an example, there are COVA flagship store, a century-old Italian dessert shop, LeTAO, a fresh Japanese fruit shop, butter and bread, and Rainotte French dessert shop founded by French dessert pioneer Rainotte. Last month, the famous French macaroon brand Laduree also returned to the China market and opened its first store here. New consumer brands are not to be outdone, especially the rise of Guochao Dim Sum Shop, which has turned the new Chinese baking into a trendy and cool product and cultural symbol.
From Guanglianshen, Hutou Bureau to Shanhai Tea, Momo Dim Sum Bureau, etc., they have all raced around the core business district, becoming the "punch-in" places for young people, and have also been chased by today's capital, Sequoia China, IDG and other famous VC/PE. At the same time, in recent years, LADY M's stores in mainland China have been continuously reduced and adjusted, and its online celebrity aura is fading. According to the insiders, if LADY M returns to the China market in the direct mode, it is bound to face more competitors than five years ago.