中国极限运动零售格局主要是单品牌的专卖店组成，而Blue Hawii Surf 的拥有人Michael Zhang，将着重考虑将BHS打造成一个集街头，滑板品牌一体的国内多品牌极限运动零售店。
The Chinese action sports retail landscape is composed primarily of single brand stores. Michael Zhang, owner of Blue Hawaii Surf, an important account in Hawaii for surf, street and skate brands, is now opening some of the first multi-branded action sports retail shops in China.
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Michael出生于上海，在1990年去夏威夷之前学习的是核物理专业，他在1996年从削板人Glenn Minami手中买下了Blue Hawaii Surf
在运行了BHS至少17年之后，Michael决定将他的零售店开到中国来
中国的扩张
2012年，Michael觉得时机已经成熟，于是在中国开设了两家零售店，他戏称这两家点是国内第一批成功“合法化”的多品牌极限运动商店，店内出售的品牌和美国BHS店内出售品牌基本相同
Michael的第一家店开设在三亚的一个商场内，三亚因其跟夏威夷相似的气候和游客的数量文明
12月份，他在北京三里屯开设了另一家BHS店铺，这儿也是苹果公司在中国第一家店的选址之处，Michael称它为中国最时尚的地方。像Eric Koston，Justin Bieber都来过BHS商店买过东西
这个月即将在三亚建成的第三家店铺内还会有一个MiniRamp
而其第四家店铺选在MGM酒店大厅的内，位于三亚的另一边，店铺正在装修，预计11月份即将开业
他希望明年春天在北京的一个闹市区商铺内开设BHS的第五家店铺，不过交易尚未落实
“我们现在做得越来越好了，店铺预计在1年之后就可以收益，不过生意还是有风险，我们从小开始做起，毕竟会跑步之前你得学会走路啊”张总说
一些寻求扩张的公司都在期盼他在中国生意的成功
Vans市场营销经理Mathew Morgan评价道：“BHS无疑比那些尝试开设多品牌的中国店铺成功的多，他们是真正的零售商，这也给了他们足够的优势，我们当然会尽全力支持他们，我们会将其作为核心客户对待”
张总购买BHS的方式可以说不同寻常，他在夏威夷一份报纸上看到了出售的消息，立刻就将其买了下来
那时候BHS欠了很多供货商的钱，而张总对冲浪也是一无所知
“BHS的前五年实在是太艰苦了”张总说
冲浪公司一开始便不想和他做生意
“首先我不是一个冲浪人而且我是这个圈子里的第一个中国人，我觉得他们看我就像看外星人一样”张总边笑边说
因为一些大的冲浪公司不愿意将其产品卖给BHS，所以张和他的团队不得不将引入潮流品牌，滑板品牌和街头品牌将其转型，这也是BHS现如今的格局
目前店内有诸如Volcom，Hurley, RVCA, Stussy, LRG, The Hundreds, Diamond, Huf, Vans, Nike SB, Oakley, Stance, Nixon 和 Skullcandy.这些品牌
BHS在夏威夷现有两家店，一家在Ala Monana购物中心，另一家在珍珠港附近的Pearlridge商店内
“我们希望能够保留尽可能多的优势，所以如果我们看到了一些新兴品牌的潜力，我们便会把它买下来”张总说
从2000年起，BHS就已经开始盈利，不过在近几年来的利润率有显著的下降，张总将其归因于诸如Zumiez，PacSun和Macy这些经销商进驻夏威夷市场
“这些商店内有不少BHS曾经独有的冲浪滑板品牌，所以我们的利润率下降非常明显，所以我们才将目光投向了中国”
Justin Bieber BHS 留影
在中国做生意面临的挑战
中国的商品价格比美国高得多，比如意见Diamond T恤衫要卖到$65 而意见BHS T恤也要卖到$60，所以要想将产品进口道中国着实是一大难题
“问题在于你如何合法地将物品传到中国消费者手上，同时保持较低的物流成本。比如Hurley将他们的设备运过来一般在美国只要4500美元，而在中国要空运，要走海关，因为它是木制的还要消毒，这些加起来要花9000美元”
不过还好我们在中国有关系，这给了我们很大的帮助
“我们在中国的合作伙伴是一个经营多年的OEM体育工厂。他们熟悉进出口过程，而且他们的零售业也已经好几年的经验，我觉得我们肯定能很好地配合起来，在中国获得成功有这么一个富有经验值得信任的合作火伴是非常重要的“
张总说在中国成功的第二重要因素就是有很好的关系和最好的零售市场
第三点，在中国设立多品牌零售店非常具有挑战，你要去处理不同供应商的事情，还得说服他们，对他们在中国做生意烦人的偏见进行教育，所以个人和这些品牌的人脉关系也是BHS在中国获得成功的重要一点
“没有供货商的支持，我们决不可能获得成功，目前为止每一个供应商都很信任我们，给了我们巨大的支持”
张总说相比其他的极限运动店铺，他采取了不同的购买模式
“我们不会像一些品牌一样在中国使用同一种营销模式，BHS在三亚的店铺和北京的店铺的购买模式肯定完全不同，我们为不同消费者选择不同的商品，我们做事一直很谨慎”
产业同行
BHS在中国发展的未来
张总认为极限运动在中国潜力无限
“中国的市场仅仅是刚刚起步，不过我相信中国会是我们的市场”
“未来的5年内我们打算一共开设30-50家店铺，预计销售额要达到5000万美元”
张总还想开发中国网络市场，他的梦想更为巨大
“我希望我们能够公开招股”
Michael Zhang
The Chinese action sports retail landscape is composed primarily of single brand stores. Michael Zhang, owner of Blue Hawaii Surf, an important account in Hawaii for surf, street and skate brands, is now opening some of the first multi-branded action sports retail shops in China.
Michael is originally from Shanghai and studied nuclear physics before moving to Hawaii in 1990. He purchased Blue Hawaii Surf, a store founded by shaper Glenn Minami, in 1996.
While running Blue Hawaii Surf in Hawaii for the last 17 years, Zhang dreamed of taking his retail concept to China.
China expansion
In 2012, Zhang finally thought the timing was right, and opened two Blue Hawaii Surf retail shops in the Chinese market – stores that he describes as the first successful and “legitimate” multi-branded action sports store in China. The stores carry most of the same brands that the Blue Hawaii Surf stores carry in the U.S.
The first store Zhang opened in China is at a mall in Sanya, a resort town known for its Hawaii-like climate and high volume of tourists.
In December, he opened a Blue Hawaii Surf store in San Li Tun Village in Beijing, which Zhang said is one of the most fashionable places in China, also home to the first Apple store in the country. Celebrities such as skateboarder Eric Koston and singer Justin Bieber have shopped at the store.
The third Blue Hawaii Surf shop, which also has a skateboard ramp inside the store, will open this month in another mall in Sanya.
Zhang plans to open a fourth Blue Hawaii Surf Shop inside the MGM Hotel lobby in another part of Sanya, which is currently being renovated and is expected to open in November.
He hopes to open a fifth BHS shop next spring in a busy mall in Beijing, but the deal has not been finalized yet.
“We are doing really well and the shops will all be profitable in just one year,” said Zhang. “But business is still a challenge and we are starting small; trying to walk before we run.”
Industry companies looking to expand in China are hoping he succeeds.
“Blue Hawaii Surf has definitely been more successful than most action sports multi-brand attempts in China,” said Mathew Morgan, Vans Marketing Manager in China. “They are true retailers and that has definitely given them an advantage to date. We are certainly supporting them as much as we can and treat them as a key core account.”
Zhang came to own Blue Hawaii Surf in an unusual way – he bought the stores after seeing a “for sale" ad in the local Hawaiian newspaper.
At the time, Blue Hawaii Surf owed a lot of vendors money, and Zhang knew nothing about the surf industry.
“The first five years of owning Blue Hawaii Surf were rough,” he said.
Surf companies were also reluctant to do business with him at the start, Zhang said.
“I am not a surfer and I am probably one of the first Chinese people in the industry so I think they thought I was an alien at first,” he said, laughing.
Because some of the big surf companies didn’t want to sell to Blue Hawaii Surf, Zhang and his management team bought from fashion brands, skate brands and streetwear brands, changing the landscape of the shop to what it is today.
Currently, the shop carries brands like Volcom, Hurley, RVCA, Stussy, LRG, The Hundreds, Diamond, Huf, Vans, Nike SB, Oakley, Stance, Nixon, and Skullcandy.
There are two Blue Hawaii Surf shops in Hawaii, one in the Ala Moana Shopping Center and the other in the Pearlridge Shopping mall near Pearl Harbor.
“We try to stay on the edge so we buy brands when they are new and we can see their potential,” he said.
Since 2000, Zhang said Blue Hawaii Surf has made a profit, but Zhang said margins have decreased significantly over the past several years. He attributes the decreases to stores like Zumiez, PacSun and Macy’s, which have entered the Hawaiian mall market.
“Those stores carry lots of surf/skate brands which BHS exclusively used to carry in the mall, so the margins shrank sharply,” said Zhang. “That’s why we are focusing more on China right now.”
The challenges of doing business in China
While prices for goods in China are more expensive than in the U.S. - a Diamond T-shirt, for example sells for $65, and a Blue Hawaii branded T sells for about $60 in China - Zhang said getting goods to China can be a struggle.
“The big issue is how you go through Chinese customs and pass Chinese label laws, and keep a low logistics cost. For example, Hurley sent us their fixture. It cost about $4,500 to make it in the U.S but it cost us $9,000 to ship it by air and put it through the Chinese customs fumigation process since it is made of wood,” said Zhang.
Luckily, Zhang said, he has really good partners in China to help him.
“My partner in China is a Sport OEM factory that has been in business for many years. They are familiar with the import and export process, they have been in retail for several years, and I think we are good match. It is extremely important to find trustworthyand knowledgeable partners in China. That is the number one point for success in China.”
Zhang said having good connections and getting the best retail spaces are the second biggest factors in succeeding in the Chinese market.
Third, Zhang said that multi-branded shops are more challenging because you need to work with many different vendors and educate some of them on the nuances of doing business in China. So building strong personal relationships with brands has been an important step for Blue Hawaii Surf in China.
“Without the support of vendors, we can't have success, and so far every vendor has given us huge amounts of support and they believe in us.”
Zhang said he has used a different buying model than some other action sports brands that have entered the market.
“You just can’t put a one size fits all model in China, like some of the other brands have done. What you do in a beach city like Sanya has to be different than in Beijing and that’s our buying strategy at Blue Hawaii Surf. We buy for different consumers and we have been very careful,” said Zhang.
The future for Blue Hawaii Surf in China
Zhang sees huge potential for action sports in China, and has lofty ambitions.
“China’s market is just at its beginning stages, but we believe that this industry is the blue ocean market,” said Zhang.
“In the next five years we want to open thirty to fifty stores. We plan to do over $50 million in retail sales in five years.”
Zhang also has plans to grow the business online in China, and he dreams of an even bigger prize.
“Hopefully, we will get an IPO.”
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