Sweden's Haglofs is preparing the opening of its first-ever Global flagship store ...on Shanghai's Huaihai Road.
The legacy outdoor brand is making a big commitment to China as its global centerpiece. In addition to its planned flagship for Shanghai, it will also have shops in Beijing's China World Mall and Tianjin's MixC.
Haglöfs, appears to be a relative late-comer to China - a market that is already chock-full of premium active wear brands.
Why this matters:
The growth of premium outdoor and athleisure brands in China has been absolutely phenomenal over the past few years!
At a time where most categories have been sucking wind, outdoor and sports brands have enjoyed steady upwards momentum.
This momentum has drawn in an incredible number of global players. Athleisure giant Lululemon has a firm hold in the market. All of ANTA & Amer Sports many invested brands such as Arc'teryx, Salomon, Peak Performance...have scaled up dramatically. At the same time, there has been an array of smaller, niche brands popping up.
Strategic consideration:
The growth of premium outdoor fashion brands in China is worth paying close attention to. These premium active brands appear to be displacing traditional luxury players as benchmark symbols of status.
Looking for evidence of this shift, walk through any luxury mall or avenue in Shanghai and Beijing ...and you will notice how many of the anchor retail spaces have been taken over by Arc'teryx, Lululemon and Canada Goose (to name a few).
If this is a wholesale swapping out of traditional luxury for premium activewear, then Haglöfs is far from late to the party ...it will be a trend that plays out over many, many more years.