洋品牌的中国“卖鞋经”

    约一个世纪以来，艾伦•埃德蒙兹（Allen Edmonds）一直致力于生产高端正装男鞋。从里根到奥巴马，每一位美国总统都穿过这个品牌。如今，这家总部位于威斯康辛州华盛顿港、年收入达1.22亿美元的公司正在向东方扩张，试图寻找新的市场。公司最近在上海开设了第一家店铺，它的正装男鞋【想想电视剧《广告狂人》（Made Men）】售价在175美元至695美元之间。笔者采访了艾伦•埃德蒙兹CEO保罗•葛兰格德。他讲述了进军海外的真实感受。以下是他从中学到的三条经验。

不要夸大差异

    进入中国市场时，艾伦•埃德蒙兹发现，中国消费者或许在吃上更希望像欧洲人一样，但他们在穿上却与美国人非常相似。公司在上海店铺最畅销的皮鞋与美国店铺完全一样。“虽然中国人不太旅行，” 葛兰格德说。“但年轻一代的中国人很有修养，而且非常现实。据我们所知，他们非常喜欢美国。”

宣扬产品的真实可靠性

    葛兰格德说：“中国人在吃、住上的花销要少于美国人，而在穿上的花销则更高。”公司了解到，对于中国消费者而言，非常重要的一点是，购物袋上得印有进口品牌的标志。为了在中国市场脱颖而出，艾伦•埃德蒙兹决定强调自己作为高品质美国鞋类制造商的悠久传统。店铺开业当天，公司树立了一块显示屏，用于展示艾伦•埃德蒙兹不同时期的制鞋技术。在一个到处充斥着“山寨”产品的市场，葛兰格德相信，对于希望进军中国市场的美国服装制造商来说，强调产品的真实可靠性将是一个绝佳的切入点。他说：“中国消费者希望买到正品；他们希望在实体店里购买产品。”

慎选店铺位置

    艾伦•埃德蒙兹在上海寻找零售位时，中国业主都希望将购物中心上面的楼层租给这家皮鞋制造商。对于艾伦•埃德蒙兹这样一家知名度不高的小型品牌，在中国很难得到一流的铺面。公司的中国特许经营合作伙伴警告他们，只有不受欢迎的品牌才会被安排在更高的楼层。艾伦•埃德蒙兹不得不没完没了的与物业面谈，最后才找到一家商场，愿意把二楼靠近自动扶梯的黄金位置租给公司。葛兰格德表示，公司租的店面每平方英尺的租金甚至高于洛克菲勒中心的租金。不过，从开始的表现来看，这样的租金确实值得——店铺开业当天，消费者便蜂拥而至。公司计划在上海再开两家店铺，在北京新开一家店铺，而且以后将每年开设超过五家店铺。(财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    For almost a century, Allen Edmonds has been making high-end men's dress shoes. Every President from Reagan to Obama has worn the brand. Now the $122 million-a-year company, which is headquartered in Port Washington, Wis., is turning East in search of new markets. The company, whose dress shoes (think Mad Men) sell for $175 to $695, opened its first store recently in Shanghai. We caught up with Allen Edmonds' CEO Paul Grangaard who described what it was like to parachute into a foreign land. Here are three lessons he learned.

Don't overestimate the differences

    On entering China, Allen Edmonds discovered that consumers might want to eat like Europeans, but they dress like Americans. The company's best-selling shoes in its Shanghai store are same as in its U.S. stores: "Even if they haven't traveled much," says Grangaard, "the new generation of Chinese are cultured and very worldly. What we learned is that they really like America."

Flaunt your authenticity

    "The Chinese," says Grangaard, "spend a lot less on food and housing than Americans do, but they spend more on clothing." The company learned that it's very important for consumers to be seen with a shopping bag with an imported brand on it. To differentiate itself in the China market, Allen Edmonds decided to stress its long heritage as a high-quality American shoemaker. At its store opening, it created a display on Allen Edmonds shoemaking techniques throughout the ages. In a market rife with knock-offs, Grangaard believes that stressing the authenticity of a product is an opportunity for American clothiers who want to sell in China. "Chinese consumers want the real thing; they want products that have stories behind them," he says.

Don't get stuck on the fourth floor

    When Allen Edmonds was looking for retail space in Shanghai, the Chinese landlords kept trying to lease the shoe company space on the upper floors of malls. It's hard for a small, lesser-known brand like Allen Edmonds to secure primo retail space in China. Its Chinese franchise partner warned them that only undesirable brands get relegated to the higher levels. Allen Edmonds had to interview numerous landlords before finding one willing to lease them prime space on the second floor near the escalator. Grangaard says that the space he leased is more expensive per square foot than Rockefeller Center, but the gambit looks like it will pay off -- the store was mobbed for its grand opening. The company plans to open two more stores in Shanghai and one in Beijing, and more than five stores per year thereafter.