When it comes to Chinese men’s clothing brands, I believe most people will first think of Heilan House. As a well-known men’s clothing brand in my country, in addition to its brand advantages, Heilan House has “men’s wardrobe” and “only one year’s clothing”. Magical advertisements such as “Visit Heilan Home twice” are also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Heilan Home is indeed the first choice brand for many men to buy men’s clothing.
But before that, everyone may have forgotten that there was once a men’s clothing brand in our country that was as popular as Heilan House, and it was Septwolves.
As the pioneer of China’s men’s clothing industry, Septwolves has opened up the clothing market with high quality and low prices since its birth. In 2015, the market value reached a maximum of 24.9 billion yuan. But now Septwolves has experienced a massive decline in performance, with 20 billion evaporated in 5 years, and its debt has reached 3 billion. What happened to this former menswear giant?
The Glory of Septwolves
Public information shows that Septwolves was founded in 1990 and landed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2004, becoming China’s first listed men’s clothing company, its founder is Zhou Shaoxiong.
Compared with other “grassroots” entrepreneurs, Zhou Shaoxiong is a cultural element. He originally worked at Xinhua Bookstore because he participated in an exhibition business meeting. , was enlightened by many new ideas, so he quit his job in the bookstore and started his own entrepreneurial journey – starting a trade.
By chance, Zhou Shaoxiong heard that there was a processing factory in Shanghai that could produce jackets and down jackets. So, with a deposit of 50,000 yuan, I went to Shanghai alone.
Although there were many textile wholesale stations in Shanghai at that time, the goods were in short supply and fabrics were not easy to buy. When Zhou Shaoxiong arrived in Shanghai for the first time, he also encountered many obstacles and went through a lot of hard work to buy the in-demand fabrics. Fortunately, the emperor paid off, and finally Zhou Shaoxiong earned the first pot of gold in his life.
Those years of experience allowed Zhou Shaoxiong to accumulate a lot of experience and broaden his horizons. Therefore, he decided to focus on the men’s clothing market, and his business philosophy is simple: as long as clothes If the style is good and the quality is good, it will definitely be sold.
But the result was different from what he expected. Although the clothes he produced were very cost-effective, they were too “solid and simple”. Overseas clothes are very “beautiful”, so overseas clothes were quite popular in that era.
Under such circumstances, Zhou Shaoxiong changed his mind and founded the Septwolves brand, which represents the “wildness” of men, and invited many big-name stars such as Sun Honglei, Zhang Hanyu, Hu Jun, etc. They all endorsed it, which also established the brand reputation of Seven Wolves.
In 2004, “Septwolves” was successfully launched. It also took the title of “the first listed men’s clothing company in China”. By 2015, the market value of Septwolves was as high as 24.9 billion yuan, becoming the “historically high” market value. Despite the unstoppable market situation, Septwolves has opened more than 4,000 stores across the country. The other seven wolves are extremely beautiful.
The Decline of the Seven Wolves
In one piece Under such a good situation, I thought that the Seven Wolves could develop rapidly, but unexpectedly, after its peak period, the Seven Wolves gradually declined.
Because the mainstream consumer group has changed a group of young people, and young people like innovation and novel and trendy clothing, but the Septwolves have not made changes, so they are unable to meet the needs of young people. .
In addition, with the rise of the e-commerce industry, the birth of new retail, etc., coupled with too little investment in research and development, Septwolves’ revenue began to decline. By the time the Seven Wolves began to vigorously reform and innovate, they had already missed the opportunity.
According to data, from 2017 to 2019, Septwolves’ performance and net profit were “mediocre”, with a compound annual growth rate of only 3.06%.
In 2020, the epidemic broke out and all real industries were affected, and Septwolves was no exception. In 2020, Septwolves’ revenue in the first three quarters was only 2.17 billion, and its net profit was as low as 59.785 million yuan, a plunge of 69.8%. Over the past few years, thousands of stores have been closed, leaving only more than 2,000.
Never forget to care about the country in difficult situations
Despite being in Despite the difficult situation, Septwolves still cared about the safety of society and did their best during the epidemic, donating 1 million yuan. Prior to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, Seven Wolves also extended a helping hand and donated 5 million yuan. It can be said that it is a very responsible company.
Now, the market value of Septwolves has evaporated by 20 billion yuan in just 5 years, and its external debt is as high as 3 billion yuan. On the other hand, the general manager of Septwolves, Li Shujun, has resigned from his position and will not Serve as the legal representative of the company.
You know, Li Shujun is a “master” who once created 10 million e-commerce sales, and is therefore known as the “Million Sister”. And the Seven Wolves will gain something if they lose this one member.There are tens of millions of generals, as if their right arm was broken. After Li Shujun resigned, the position of general manager was assumed by chairman Zhou Shaoxiong.
The so-called “changes in the sea”, the former men’s clothing giant has reached the current decline, which has to be lamented. Zhou Shaoxiong has also “rescued” many times, and this time he took charge personally. What will be the development of the Seven Wolves in the future? Can it “make a comeback”? Let’s wait and see! </p
