Department Store_New Commerce_Core Industries

Department Store

Nanjing Cenbest

Nanjing Cenbest was founded in August 1952. It is one of the top ten department stores in China and the first listed commercial company of Nanjing. It has successively won a serial of honours including the first batch of “China Time-honored Brand” recognized by China's Ministry of Commece, the “National Double Excellent Business Unit for Honesty and Business Growth” and “National Advanced Group in the Commerce and Trade Industry”. In 2014, Nanjing Cenbest acquired House of Fraser, a British quintessential royal department store.

Nanjing Cenbest’s subsidiaries include two department store brands: Cenbest and House of Fraser, and main business stores of Nanjing Cenbest are distributed across the regions of Jiangsu, Anhui, the UK and Ireland. Cenbest was recognized as a "China Famous Brand".

Cenbest features young and fast fashion, aiming to serve the working class and fully satisfy mass consumption needs. So far, Nanjing Cenbest has operated a number of Xinjiekou department stores in different cities, such as Nanjing of Jiangsu province, Wuhu and Huainan of Anhui province.

The House of Fraser features international styles and individualisation, aiming to serve the prominent new middle class. With the business model building on “house brands + buyers system + concession”, it leads the trend of China’s modern department stores. At the end of 2016, the first Chinese flagship store of House of Fraser Department Store ceremoniously opened in the central district of Xinjiekou, Nanjing. In September of 2017, House of Fraser in Xuzhou opened to bring British style to Xuzhou and has devoted to the upgrading of the internationalization of Huaihai Economic Zone. Meanwhile, House of Fraser in Liuzhou is in the business planning stage.

House of Fraser

Established in 1849, House of Fraser (HOF) is one of the UK’s most venerable retail brands. As such, it is one of the only three UK department stores to ever earn the Royal Warrant distinction from the British royal family. With over 17,000 employees, HOF operates over 60 stores across the UK, Ireland and the Middle East. It is the third largest department store in the UK.

In addition to strong in-store sales, HOF has developed a well-scaled online retail channel that has seen 70% annualized average online sales growth since 2007. HOF’s strength is attributable not only to its remarkable sales volume but also to its three-pronged product strategy that includes high-margin own-bought products, HOF house brands (representing almost 50% of total sales), as well as traditional concession sales. At the end of 2016, HOF’s first Chinese flagship store was settled in Xinjiekou, Nanjing.

House of Fraser China

House of Fraser China (HOF China) is a Chinese subsidiary corporation of House of Fraser. With a rich heritage of 169 years of retailing history, HOF China enters the Chinese market by means of re-defining the concept and form of the modern department store.

HOF China introduces to China a distinctive department store business model that combines house brands, buyers brands and concession brands, and emphasize displaying and recommending brands or products with British descent to customers of China. The internal and external decoration of its stores will also fully embody a British design style so as to perfectly represent the symbolic British architectural aesthetics and qualities.

HOF China follows the operation concept of House of Fraser, always insist the “customer first” philosophy, and promote special premium services such as high-end personal shopping consultants as well as online purchase and offline pick-up, so as to allow every customer to enjoy a distinguished shopping experience and an unadulterated British lifestyle.

In 2016, the first flagship store of HOF China opened in Xinjiekou, Nanjing. In 2017, House of Fraser in Xuzhou opened. It will integrate commercial classics of both China and the West and demonstrate “Chinese Commerce 4.0”, providing consumers with comprehensive-value ecological chain services featuring “house brands + buyers system + scene-based experience + O2O + finance”. At the same time, House of Fraser in Liuzhou is in the business planning stage.

Hamleys

Founded in 1760, Hamleys has once garnered the Royal Warrant distinctions from King George V and from Queen Elizabeth II. It is the world’s oldest and most famous toy retailer. Since it was opened up, Hamleys has been committed to making itself The Finest Toy Shop in the World, whose products are world-renowned for their high quality.

Hamleys runs 128 stores around the world that are seated in the UK, Ireland, Northern Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Russia, with business covering 25 countries. Among them, the flagship store in London’s Regent Street is the world’s oldest toy shop, as well as one of London’s most famous tourist attractions, which captivates an annual influx of nearly 5 million visitors.

In 2015, C.banner, a strategic partner of Sanpower Group, purchased Hamleys. Utilising Sanpower Group’s bountiful offline resources, Hamleys has entered the Chinese market together with the British royal department store House of Fraser. Its unique scene-based sales model constitutes an essential part of Commerce 4.0 inaugurated by Sanpower Group.

On 1 October 2016, the first Chinese flagship store of Hamleys settled in Sanpower International Plaza, Xinjiekou, Nanjing (in the Nanjing International Finance Centre). On September 15, Xuzhou Hamleys with a total area of 10,000 ㎡ opened. On December 23 2017, Hamleys opened another store in Wangfujing of Beijing with an area of 11,000 m², making it the largest individual store of its kind in the world. In the future, Hamleys will continue to march into Shanghai, Xuzhou, Hangzhou and many other core cities with dense populations. It plans to set up 50 to 100 consumption complexes that bring together children’s entertainment, education, clothes, living articles, culture and catering, and cover an individual store area of 10,000 m².

Wangfujing

Wangfujing Group Co., Ltd. (Wangfujing, 600859.SH) is the largest retail group in China focused on the development of the retailing business. It is also extremely representative of commercial development in contemporary China.

Wangfujing, whose predecessor Beijing Department Store enjoyed a reputation in China and overseas for being the “First Store of New China”, was founded in 1955. It was the first large department store paid for and built by the country since the establishment of new China. Nowadays, Wangfujing has opened 38 large department stores in 23 cities, creating a graduated system of stores in different stages of development.

In 2014, Wangfujing Group launched the “third wave of entrepreneurship”, comprehensively integrating on-line and off-line resources, strengthening its control of commodities and resources, and developing a one-stop shopping centre business model and an outlet business model for high-end shopping. The Group’s core competitive edge is increasingly being built on its basic strengths in resources integration and customer satisfaction as well as its dual advantage in brick-and-mortar stores and online sales.

In 2016, Sanpower Group made a strategic investment in Wangfujing to become one ofits major shareholders. Both sides will make use of their respective business resources and reinforce their synergy in terms of product supply chain and scenario shopping experiences, so as to embrace the new era of Chinese retail industry.