Do you remember Metersbonwe, the "King of Walking Streets" who once swept the country?This national clothing brand has won the love of countless young people with its fashionable and casual style and people-friendly **. However, with the intensification of market competition and changes in consumer tastes, Metersbonwe's performance has declined year by year and has fallen into a business crisis.
In order to save itself, it had to take a series of radical measures, including closing stores, selling buildings, and transforming into e-commerce. These moves have sparked skepticism and criticism from the outside world, and some people even believe that Metersbonwe has fallen out of business and is on the verge of decline. However, is this really the case?Is Metersbonwe's move to sell the property a helpless survival, or a deliberate change?
Metersbonwe's road to selling real estate began in 2021. At that time, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, Metersbonwe's offline stores suffered a heavy blow, resulting in a significant decline in its revenue, and a net loss of 46.9 billion yuan.
At the same time, Metersbonwe is also burdened with short-term borrowings of up to 1.1 billion yuan and is facing huge financial pressure. In order to alleviate the financial crisis, Metersbonwe decided to ** part of the property assets to raise cash flow and pay off debts. From 2021 to 2023, Metersbonwe has successively built properties in Guiyang, Shenyang, Chengdu and other places, with a total income of more than 2 billion yuan.
Among them, the most striking is that Metersbonwe actually sold its own brand museum, a move that makes people wonder if Metersbonwe has given up on its brand culture and heritage dreams.
However, Metersbonwe's sale of the property is not blindly self-cutting, but has a clear goal and strategy. First of all, the properties of Metersbonwe** are located in the core business districts of first-tier or second-tier cities, with high value and appreciation space. Secondly, Metersbonwe**'s properties are carried out in the form of cash transactions, rather than equity swaps or debt restructuring, which can avoid creating new liabilities or risks.
Finally, the properties of Metersbonwe** have reached an agreement with the old clothing brand Youngor Clothing *** in the same industry, rather than looking for buyers at random, so as to ensure that the value of the property is fully reflected.
Through these sales, Metersbonwe has successfully achieved a significant reduction in debt, from about 1 billion yuan in 2020 to about 200 million yuan in 2023. At the same time, Metersbonwe also took this opportunity to optimize its asset structure and improve its capital efficiency. More importantly, Metersbonwe's sale of the property has provided sufficient financial support for its subsequent transformation and development.
It is precisely because of this that Metersbonwe finally turned losses into profits in the first quarter of 2023 and achieved a net profit of 4383520,000 yuan, ending the loss situation for four consecutive years.
Metersbonwe's transformation journey began in 2017. At that time, Metersbonwe had realized that it was difficult to adapt to the changes in the market and the needs of consumers by relying solely on the business model of offline stores. With the development of the Internet and the rise of e-commerce, online channels have become a new growth point and competitiveness of the apparel industry.
In order to seize this opportunity, Metersbonwe decided to increase its investment and layout in online business to achieve omni-channel coverage both online and offline. From 2017 to 2020, Metersbonwe has successively opened *** on mainstream e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, JD.com, and Pinduoduo, and cooperated with short ** platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou, using live streaming to enhance its brand influence and sales.
At the same time, Metersbonwe is also constantly optimizing its online products and services, and has launched new products that are more in line with the preferences of young people, such as China goose down 1995 series, Guochao series, etc., as well as more intimate after-sales protection, such as 7-day no reason to return and exchange, national warranty, etc.
Through these transformational initiatives, Metersbonwe has successfully achieved rapid growth in its online business, from April 2017500 million yuan, an increase of 11600 million yuan, accounting for 7 percent of total revenue1% to 439%。
However, Metersbonwe's transformation journey has not been smooth sailing, but full of challenges and difficulties. First of all, in the process of transformation, Metersbonwe is facing fierce competition from the same industry, especially from foreign fast fashion brands, such as Zara, Uniqlo, H&M, etc., which attract a large number of consumers and occupy a dominant position in the market with their rapid product update speed, high-quality product quality and reasonable product pricing.
Secondly, in the process of transformation, Metersbonwe is also facing management problems from its own, such as the inefficiency of the first chain, the homogenization of products, the aging of the brand, etc., which affect the product innovation ability and market competitiveness of Metersbonwe, resulting in its difficulty in forming its own core advantages and differentiated characteristics.
Metersbonwe's innovation journey began in 2020. At the time, Metersbonwe had realized that simply transforming its online business was not enough to get itself out of trouble, but also needed to innovate and break through in products and brands to re-engage and retain consumers.
In order to achieve this goal, Metersbonwe decided to abandon the past strategy of five brands in parallel, but focused on the creation of the main brand, with young people as the core target group, fashion elements as the main content, and online and offline collaboration as the main way, launched a series of innovative products and brand activities.
Metersbonwe teamed up with the new generation of Peking Opera actor Wang Peiyu to launch a series of quintessential Peking Opera costumes, combining traditional culture and fashion trends, showing the charm of Chinese culture and the personality of young people.
Metersbonwe has cooperated with the Chinese Museum to launch the Chinese Museum clothing series, which integrates the museum's precious cultural relics and the design of the costumes, showing the history of Chinese civilization and the creativity of young people.
Metersbonwe invited rich Brian, a rapper from Indonesia, as the new spokesperson, to launch a pioneering cool boy series of clothing, combining international ** and clothing style, showing the diversity and confidence of young people. Metersbonwe cooperated with the well-known domestic animation IP "Douluo Continent" to launch a series of Douluo Continent clothing, combining the elements of anime characters and costumes to show the enthusiasm and dreams of young people.
Through these innovations, Metersbonwe has successfully enhanced its brand image and influence, won the recognition and love of young consumers, and injected new impetus into its performance growth. According to the data released by Metersbonwe, in 2020, Metersbonwe's online sales reached 16800 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 448%, accounting for 58% of total revenue6%, a record high.
Metersbonwe, the former national clothing brand, has gone through a difficult process from glory to decline and then to self-help.
Its road to selling real estate has freed it from financial difficulties and provided support for transformation and development. Its transformation path has allowed it to adapt to changes in the market and consumers, providing a balance between online and offline businesses.
Its path of innovation has allowed it to regain its own characteristics and advantages, providing vitality for products and brands. Metersbonwe, a time-honored brand that does not take the usual path, is making more and more money and is moving towards new goals.