Giordano Marketing Plan
CHAPTER 1
Background Company
Giordano is a Hong Kong retailer of men's, women's and children's quality apparel founded in 1981 by Jimmy Lai. Jimmy Lai was born 1948 in an impoverished Guangzhou, Guangdong, with family roots in nearby Shunde, Lai was educated to fifth grade level. Smuggled to Hong Kong aboard a small boat at the age of 12, Lai worked as a child-laborer in a garment factory for a wage of $8 per month. Rising to the level of factory manager, Lai speculated his year-end bonus on Hong Kong stocks to raise enough cash to buy out the owners of a bankrupt garment factory, Comitex, in 1975 and began producing sweaters. Customers included J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, and other U.S. retailers.
Giordano is one of Asia’s most successful fashion retailers. Bringing innovations to Hong Kong such as rewarding sellers with financial incentives, he built the chain into an Asia-wide retailer. Currently it has operations in 30 countries, claims more than 11,000 employees in 1,700 shops across the Asia Pacific region and the Middle East. The company’s vision is to be the best and biggest world brand in apparel retailing. Its mission is to make people “feel good” and “look great” (Giordano, 2010).
Giordano has been publicly listed since 1991 and since then trades on the Hong Kong stock exchange under the ticker symbol 709.HK. Giordano has its own manufacturing division where many of its own clothing styles are produced.[12] Giordano also makes basic and practical men's, women's, and children's T-shirts and trousers, especially denims. In comparison, Giordano is very similar to the American based retailer The Gap. Giordano makes use of both large shopping malls and smaller town centre shopping precincts. Today the company operates 80 stores in eight markets, through outright ownership or franchise agreements and is set to surpass its 100-store milestone by the end of 2005.
Giordano in 1980’s
Although presently a successful international retailing
Background Company
Giordano is a Hong Kong retailer of men's, women's and children's quality apparel founded in 1981 by Jimmy Lai. Jimmy Lai was born 1948 in an impoverished Guangzhou, Guangdong, with family roots in nearby Shunde, Lai was educated to fifth grade level. Smuggled to Hong Kong aboard a small boat at the age of 12, Lai worked as a child-laborer in a garment factory for a wage of $8 per month. Rising to the level of factory manager, Lai speculated his year-end bonus on Hong Kong stocks to raise enough cash to buy out the owners of a bankrupt garment factory, Comitex, in 1975 and began producing sweaters. Customers included J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, and other U.S. retailers.
Giordano is one of Asia’s most successful fashion retailers. Bringing innovations to Hong Kong such as rewarding sellers with financial incentives, he built the chain into an Asia-wide retailer. Currently it has operations in 30 countries, claims more than 11,000 employees in 1,700 shops across the Asia Pacific region and the Middle East. The company’s vision is to be the best and biggest world brand in apparel retailing. Its mission is to make people “feel good” and “look great” (Giordano, 2010).
Giordano has been publicly listed since 1991 and since then trades on the Hong Kong stock exchange under the ticker symbol 709.HK. Giordano has its own manufacturing division where many of its own clothing styles are produced.[12] Giordano also makes basic and practical men's, women's, and children's T-shirts and trousers, especially denims. In comparison, Giordano is very similar to the American based retailer The Gap. Giordano makes use of both large shopping malls and smaller town centre shopping precincts. Today the company operates 80 stores in eight markets, through outright ownership or franchise agreements and is set to surpass its 100-store milestone by the end of 2005.
Giordano in 1980’s
Although presently a successful international retailing