China One Of Premium German Brand’s Top International Markets
Hugo Boss plans to open around 20 China locations per year for the next five years. (Image: A Hugo Boss store in Guangzhou)
While joint ventures are common among international and Chinese automakers, we haven’t seen many taking place in the fashion world. (Aside from recent moves by companies like Hermes, whose home-grown Chinese spinoff brand Shang Xia will land in stores this September.) That could soon change, however, as sources report this week the premium German fashion house Hugo Boss is in talks with Chinese fashion retailer Rainbow Group about setting up a joint venture to tap rising Chinese consumer spending power and retail consumption.
From Reuters:
According to the article, the Asia-Pacific region currently accounts for around 10% of total revenue for Hugo Boss, and the company plans to expand aggressively to reach a goal of taking in 21% of revenue from Asia-Pacific sales within the next five years. As part of the company’s growth plan, it expects to open somewhere in the range of 20 stores per year in China, and that is where a Chinese joint venture — and the access to strong distribution and sales networks it would bring — plays a major determining factor.