Chinese retail giant hits high street with Greenwoods JV
ONE of China’s largest clothing producers and retailers could open up to 100 shops across Europe over the next five years after forming a joint venture with a Yorkshire group.
The tie-up between Hanson Partners’ Greenwoods Menswear brand and Bosideng will see a Chinese retailer open its own shops on the British high street for what is believed to be the first time.
Although the agreement is at an early stage Bosideng has invested £5m into the venture and wants to open 20 own branded shops in the UK every year for the next five years.
The partnership, which will also boost the Hanson Partners name and Greenwoods Menswear brand across Europe, has launched the first two Bosideng stores in Bury St Edmunds and Lincoln.
The Bosideng stores will bring formal and casual menswear collections aimed at what the partnership describes as “fashion conscious young professionals”.
Bosideng’s chairman, Dekang Gao, and a team of seven other key players from the company are visiting Hanson Partners’s headquarters in Greengates, Bradford, today to celebrate the launch of the new venture.
John Hanson, the textile entrepreneur who is chairman of Greenwoods and private investment group Hanson Partners, said: “We have been working with the Gao family for the past six years and are delighted with the partnership so far.
“We are looking forward to maintaining this excellent, growing relationship with Bosideng and our own family-run company and are very excited with the venture and opportunity to open another 100 shops over the next five years.”
Mr Gao said: “We are delighted to have created the unique partnership with Greenwoods and have ambitious plans for the future. These stores represent just the start of exciting plans for significant expansion in the European market.”
Mr Hanson said to make the concept work in the retail market the stores would have to be rolled out in a large number.
He said the expansion plan could create more than 500 jobs.
Bosideng already manufactures and supplies menswear for Greenwoods, which sells men’s suits and also runs a menswear suit hire service called 1860, and Bosideng products are stocked in all of Greenwoods’ stores.
Bosideng has one of the largest clothing production centres in mainland China, with around 19,000 staff, and the value of the Bosideng brand is estimated to be in excess of £1.5bn.
The company’s turnover last year was around £2.2bn generated from its 8,000 stores.
Greenwoods, which was established in 1860, has a network of more than 90 stores.
Mr Gao and the delegation will also formally open Hanson Partners’ Speedmaster Conference Centre in Greengates which Bosideng has also provided funding for.
The motor racing themed conference centre is a venue for business events and includes a range of classic cars ranging from Ferraris to Lagondas and Jaguars.
The Bosideng executives visited the stores in Bury St Edmunds and Lincoln yesterday following their £600,000 fit out. They have also visited the Houses of Parliament and had a meeting at the Chinese Embassy in London during their trip to the UK.
