Tapestry Group, which owns the Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman brands, is to place the headquarters for its China travel retail business in Hainan.
New York-listed Tapestry formally recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Hainan International Economic Development Bureau and a bonded zone committee in Haikou, the capital of the island province.
In a statement, the president of Tapestry Asia Pacific and CEO of Coach China, Yann Bozec, said: “The Hainan market continues to see vigorous momentum. The launch of our China travel retail headquarters here is an important milestone marking the beginning of our travel retail business in China.” Bozec added that he expected to enter “a new chapter of rapid development” by advancing relationships with more retail partners on the island.
The investment arm, Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development (Hainan IEDB), is helping groups like Tapestry not just establish themselves in Haikou, but also accelerate their business development, explore digital transformation options, and expand omnichannel services. At its new HQ, Tapestry will begin building up a local operation team with the aim of coordinating the group’s travel retail business across the whole country.
Hainan wants to be the center of travel retail and free trade in China. Last year in May, IEDB held the inaugural China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, which attracted over 1,500 domestic and foreign companies from around 70 countries. Exhibitors included a host of luxury brands including some big names like Burberry, De Beers, L’Oréal, Shiseido Swarovski, Swatch and Tapestry. The event shifted the focus away from Singapore where the duty-free industry usually gathers in the same month for its leading regional show, TFWA Asia Pacific, which was replaced with an online forum last year due to the pandemic.
