Fashion group aims to expand to all types of cities nationwide

Stephane Torck, CEO of Beaumanoir Group China.

With one-fifth of the world's population, China has a huge consumption power, and any business model can generate profit in this market because it is so big, said Stephane Torck, CEO of Beaumanoir Group China.

Beaumanoir is a French fashion group which has six brands including Cache Cache and Bonobo. It entered the Chinese market in 2005.

The company has 850 stores in 200 cities in the Chinese mainland under the Cache Cache brand, with geographic expansion from big cities like Shanghai to smaller cities.

China is a huge market and as the country is transforming its economic growth model, it brings opportunities and challenges, he noted.

The fast expansion of the French fashion group in China is greatly attributed to a solid partnership with local retailers in a form similar to franchise stores, according to Torck.

A big challenge facing the retailers in China is the surging rent costs for retailers, together with the rising labor costs, narrow the profit margin of fashion retailers that target China's mass market.

"Profit is still growing with time, yet with rising labor and rent costs, not much left," he said.

The French fashion group has a big plan to open more than 200 new outlets in China every year.