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Korea’s Handsome opens its first store in China

Posted July. 18, 2019 09:05,   

Updated July. 18, 2019 09:05

한국어

Handsome, the fashion subsidiary of the Hyundai Department Store group, announced that it signed an exclusive distribution (export) contract with China’s Bailian Group for its women casual apparel brand SJSJ. Handsome has opened its first SJSJ store in China and has a 1,300 meters squared area at the Ba Bai Ban Department Store in the Pudong district of Shanghai.

Bailian Group, China’s largest distribution business, runs more than 7,000 stores, ranging from department stores, shopping malls, to convenience stores, across the nation. The contract period is estimated to be five years, which amounts to approximately 35 billion won of export value (on accumulated basis). Through this deal, SJSJ expects to achieve annual revenue of 100 billion won.

Based on the contract, Handsome will supply SJSJ products and support brand marketing for the next five years, while Bailian Group will own exclusive rights to sell the SJSJ brand, such as running SJSJ stores at local department stores and outlets. Handsome is planning to expand its export scale in accordance with local demand. Handsome and Bailian Group are planning to open around 10 new stores every year in high-end department stores located in major cities in China. “We will be considering launching other brands after reviewing local response,” said a source at Handsome.

Some say that the contract requested by Bailian Group, a government owned company, is a gesture that China’s retaliatory trade measures in response to Korea’s THAAD deployment has come to a close. Handsome previously signed a contract with China’s Hangzhou Hung Limited Company in 2017, but the agreement was prematurely terminated that year as China’s retaliatory trade measures began.


Seng-Hyun Kang byhuman@donga.com