Luxury Handbag Mending Services Proliferating In Major Chinese Cities
Fickle gift recipients or regular shoppers have contributed to the rise of the luxury second-hand shop in China
One of the interesting byproducts of China’s booming luxury market has been the appearance of specialized companies providing niche aftermarket services. As mainland Chinese wine collectors and dealers have become a force to be reckoned with at Hong Kong auctions, often bringing home cases of top bottles, entrepreneurs have been quick to build often “bunker-like” wine storage facilities in or near major cities, filling a niche that few would have even thought existed only a few years ago. Private shoppers and stylists, too, have sprung up offering their services to newly wealthy Chinese who could stand to learn a thing or two about fashion and personal style. And considering China has gradually become the land of the handbag — both among women and men — now some enterprising individuals are catering to one of the less glamorous sides of the luxury world: maintenance.
This week, China Daily profiles one store, Shanghai’s Sac Igant, which specializes in cleaning and mending services. With China’s handbag market reaching US$1.2 billion last year, and fickle gift recipients or shoppers fueling the country’s second-hand and consignment stores, the potential is huge for well-trained luxury maintenance professionals, and entrepreneurs are all too eager to exploit this niche. From China Daily:
While luxury-focused maintenance and repair stores like Du’s are a good idea, it will perhaps be difficult for them to establish trust with customers, which is why word-of-mouth is so critical. Another major concern of Du’s is that old inevitability in successful niche markets — the rise of the cheaper, poorly trained copycat repair shop.