Arrears of wages, closing shops, selling buildings The former pedestrian street giant Metersbonwe ha

Mondo Fashionable Updated on 2024-02-01

In 1995, the first Metersbonwe store opened in Wenzhou, and all the five horse streets on the same day were covered with a red carpet and went straight to the door of the store.

Zhou Chengjian, who was just 30 years old, looked at the crowd in front of him and suddenly realized: This is the right way.

In 2008, Metersbonwe was listed in Shenzhen, known as the "first stock of casual clothing", with more than 5,000 franchised stores, and is well-deserved as the "king of pedestrian streets".

As the founder, Zhou Chengjian also became famous overnight, with a value of 2 billion US dollars, he appeared on the Forbes China Rich List that year, ranking fifth, and also became the richest man in China's clothing industry.

But the highlight didn't last long.

Since 2012, Meibang's performance has begun to decline year by year, and its market value has continued to shrink, and as of 2023, more than 4,000 stores have been closed.

In 2023, Meibang will be exposed to "selling properties to survive" four times, and Zhou Chengjian, who has long since retired, will have to return again.

When it comes to Metersbonwe, many people have mistaken it for a foreign brand, but in fact, it is an out-and-out domestic product.

The reason why there is such a misunderstanding is inseparable from the idea of Zhou Chengjian when he founded the brand.

"Meters, it must not sound like a rural smell!”

In 1993, Zhou Chengjian registered the trademark of Metersbonwe and began to produce clothing under the "Bonwe" brand, which attracted many consumers and made Zhou Chengjian's obsession come true.

Unlike many well-to-do bosses, Zhou Chengjian was born in the countryside and his family was also very poor, and in order to improve the conditions of his family, he learned the craft of tailoring while studying.

In 1978, Zhou Chengjian was admitted to the county middle school, which should have meant a good start, but the identity of the "rural baby" made him suffer a lot.

At that time, because of my status as a rural person, I was looked down upon, and I felt very inferior, but the more I wanted to prove that I could do it.

Such character traits began to be reflected in the entrepreneurial process after Zhou Chengjian.

First of all, the brand name, in order to get rid of the feeling of "farmer", this is why the name "Meters" with a foreign flavor was born.

And "Bangwei" means to promote the prestige of the country, highlighting Zhou Chengjian's arrogance and ambition.

In 2001, Metersbonwe's sales revenue exceeded 800 million, which was 80 times that of the early stage of the business, and Metersbonwe has also become the first brand of casual clothing retail in China, and it has its presence in the pedestrian commercial streets of major cities.

It was also thanks to Zhou Chengjian's correct choice: to target young people and occupy the relatively blank field of casual clothing in China at that time.

Interestingly, the reason why this business opportunity was discovered was because of a mistake.

Before founding Metersbonwe, Zhou Chengjian ran an ordinary garment processing factory, usually taking orders from some wholesale markets, relying on good craftsmanship and good reputation to gain a firm foothold, and also made a lot of money.

But if there is too much business, it is easy to be busy ** mistakes, and one suit order went wrong like this: the sleeves of all suits were cut off.

It's obviously too late to do it again, and if you can't pay the order, you will lose money, Zhou Chengjian is in a hurry, but he didn't give up like this with a flexible brain, but figured out a way to "make a mistake".

Subsequently, the sleeves of this batch of suits were spliced with other fabrics, and the hem was also made the same stitching, so that not only did not see the problem, but also became more fashionable and chic.

One of Zhou Chengjian's ingenuity contributed to the popularity of casual suits in the early days, and the goods were quickly sold out, and new orders poured in.

Since then, Zhou Chengjian has fallen in love with the "casual concept", which led to the later Metersbonwe, which focused on casual clothing.

In 2008, Meibang was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and became the "first stock of casual clothing", and Zhou Chengjian also stepped into the position of the richest man in the clothing industry.

But behind such brilliance, the crisis has quietly come.

A turning point in China's garment industry was 2010. In the interview, Zhou Chengjian expressed his opinion.

After the successful holding of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, China's changes began to be seen by people all over the world, and at the same time, foreign capital also focused on the huge Chinese market, including the garment industry.

After that, clothing brands from various countries began to enter the Chinese market, relying on mature store models, distinctive design styles, and super publicity methods, quickly attracting a large number of Chinese consumers.

These foreign brands continue to carve up market share, and the challenges faced by domestic clothing brands are becoming more and more severe.

In the face of such an impact, Zhou Chengjian began to take Metersbonwe's "big expansion", wanting to occupy an advantage through comprehensive stores, and soon, the number of stores in Metersbonwe exceeded 5,000.

At the same time, Metersbonwe has also launched its own e-commerce platform, wanting to open up online + offline channels.

Unfortunately, these ideas are good, but their implementation has gone awry.

In order to ensure the speed of store opening, Meibang's focus is on expansion, so it has to outsource the clothing chain and new product research and development, which is equivalent to shaking the foundation.

If the quality control of a clothing brand is difficult to guarantee, then the natural reputation will decline, and during that time, Metersbonwe began to be frequently complained about by consumers about quality problems.

On the other hand, Metersbonwe's sales basically rely on offline stores, and there is little experience in e-commerce, so the "Banggou Network", which was launched at a cost of more than 60 million, has declined less than a year after it was launched.

Since then, Metersbonwe's sales performance has been declining year by year, the inventory backlog has become more and more serious, and the brand competitiveness has been declining.

In 2015, Metersbonwe exposed its first loss after listing, and the following year, Zhou Chengjian stepped down and handed over the company's power to his daughter Hu Jiajia.

After Hu Jiajia took office, she made a series of adjustments, constantly trying to launch sub-brands, inviting popular traffic stars to endorse, and upgrading offline channels, which can be regarded as painstaking.

But unfortunately, these moves still failed to change the loss of Metersbonwe.

From 2019 to 2021, Meibang lost more than 2.1 billion yuan year after year, and in the 2023 financial report, Meibang lost more than 90 million in the third quarter alone.

Such a grim situation has also affected the internal, many employees have been exposed to wage arrears and layoffs, which shows that the flow of funds is very tight, and the next sale of the property by Meibang has caused an uproar.

In December 2023, Meibang issued two more ** announcements, and this is its fourth property sale this year.

At the beginning of this year, Meibang also staged a "change of general" again, Hu Jiajia resigned, and Zhou Chengjian appeared in front of people again.

Will his return take a turn for the better?We'll see.

The former "king of pedestrian streets" has quietly faded its halo, and now, there are only more than 20 directly operated stores in Metersbonwe, and there are less than 1,000 franchise stores, and the grand occasion of the year can no longer be seen.

However, like other traditional clothing brands, Meibang has also begun to deploy live broadcast e-commerce, and perhaps one day in the future, we can see this brand regain its glory.

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