Quitting the retail market. Difficulties of building successful own brands

Leung Wai Ho quit the China retail market. Leung Wai Ho claimed that his attempt to enter retailing was a “money burning” business that had cost him around $200 million between 1997 and 2003. Sadly, profits earned from overseas’ businesses were insufficient for him to “burn money” in China at such rates. In 2003, Dailywin’s retail stores in China hit a peak of 450, with goods on display having a total value of over $90 million and some 2,000 staff running shop operations and warehousing. Not knowing when returns would materialise and lacking the financial muscle to sustain heavy losses for much longer, Leung Wai Ho finally sold the retail business in 2003. The buyer was a large locally listed watch manufacturer called Peacemark.

The difficulty of building successful own brands. Leung Wai Ho bought into the idea of creating Dailywin’s own brand, agreeing that retail profits were much higher than manufacturing equivalents. However, only producers who lived within their financial means could hope to succeed in such a market. At this time, Leung Wai Ho is no longer willing to take risks as he grew content with earning smaller profits. He continued to believe that brand building is a long-term enterprise involving huge investment capital and with returns only likely to come some 50-60 years later. As success required some understanding of retailing, a novice’s chances of success are ultimately not high. Leung Wai Ho cited Baleno and Jeanswest as enterprises which had successfully developed retail arms. In recent years, Dailywin sold its retail business to Peacemark. Apart from keeping the SAGA brand, the company’s remaining brands’ license and staff were all transferred in this move.


Interviewee
Company Daily Win Watch Products Mfg. Ltd.
Date
Subject Industry
Duration 12m18s
Language Cantonese
Material Type
Collection
Source Hong Kong Memory Project Oral History Interview
Repository Hong Kong Memory Project
Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project
Accession No. LKF-LWH-SEG-008
Share Share