Picture of the Day: Round Pond

A woman began feeding the birds which led to a noisy frenzy

London fall weather means there are rain showers and then there are blue skies, and then showers again.

Today after lunch we walked to Kensington Palace, and passed through Kensington Gardens. Just in front of the palace is the Round Pond.

There were many Canadian geese around the pond

In it are white swans, ducks and even Canadian geese! Pigeons and seagulls are also hanging out there too.

Just as we passed by a woman threw a bunch of bread crumbs at the birds and suddenly there was a noisy frenzy fighting for the food!

Luxury Impervious to Boycotts?

Even Alibaba's Jack Ma wears a Canada Goose jacket at Davos

Previously it was very easy for the Chinese government to direct its citizens' anger at countries that it felt had angered them, through boycotts.

For example, many of a certain age refuse to consume any kind of Japanese products due to what happened during the Sino-Japanese war. I had one colleague who followed this boycott, refusing to buy a Japanese car or eat sushi because of how her grandparents were treated during the war.

When the Chinese boycotted Lotte because of THAAD

More recently there have been boycotts of South Korean products after the installment of THAAD, a controversial US anti-missile system on a golf course owned by conglomerate Lotte.

Chinese companies dropped their associations with Lotte, which has candy factories, entertainment, beverages and supermarkets in China. While these domestic firms garnered patriotic admiration from consumers, how long did it take for them to go back to purchasing their favourite Lotte items again?

Canada Goose were justifiably worried when it was about to open its store in Sanlitun in Beijing when the arrest of Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng Wanzhou was made in Vancouver on December 1. The store that sells premium down jackets delayed its opening by two weeks, due to "ongoing construction", perhaps in the hopes consumers wouldn't associate its brand with the legal incident.

But it seems Canada Goose has nothing to worry about.

Long lines at Canada Goose in Sanlitun Village in Beijing

Despite social media messages instructing people to boycott the Canada Goose boutique, the store opened on December 28 and it was so busy that staff were forced to restrict entry, forcing customers to wait outside for over 30 minutes in minus 12 degrees Celsius weather.

Even three days after opening, customers had to wait an hour to get into the store.

The reasons why people ignored the calls for boycotts?

One person said, "Why would I boycott Canada Goose? If Meng Wanzhou can buy houses and a Canadian residence permit, why can't I buy some Canadian clothes?"

Another questioned why a Canadian company should be responsible for its government's actions. "Why would I boycott an enterprise that didn't do anything wrong?"

The call for the boycott that never happened also gave the Canadian brand more exposure to the Chinese who had never heard of the company before, and even motivated those who could afford it to even go to the store to buy one of those prized jackets to keep warm in.

Perhaps this shows that China's biggest consumers, young people, are "driven by fashion tastes, not politics", according to some pundits. Maybe in this case the jackets that retail on average for CAD$800-$1,000 is a luxury product that is immune to boycotts or these millennials need more patriotic education from the Party...

“why would I boycott Canada Goose? If Meng Wanzhou can buy houses and a Canadian residence permit, why can’t I buy some Canadian clothes?”) while others questioned the validity of making a Canadian company responsible for the Canadian government’s action. (“Why would I boycott an enterprise that didn’t do anything wrong?”).

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“why would I boycott Canada Goose? If Meng Wanzhou can buy houses and a Canadian residence permit, why can’t I buy some Canadian clothes?”) while others questioned the validity of making a Canadian company responsible for the Canadian government’s action. (“Why would I boycott an enterprise that didn’t do anything wrong?”).

This is original content by What's on Weibo that requires investment. You are free to link to this article. Please identify this website or author when you base content on this source or quote from it. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com to buy additional rights. Copyright (C) https://www.whatsonweibo.com. Read more at: https://www.whatsonweibo.com/chinese-consumers-indifferent-to-diplomatic-spat-between-china-and-canada-as-canada-goose-boycott-backlashes/?utm_source=SupChina+Free+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3e4c604352-20180920+newsletter_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_96063830a5-3e4c604352-165094247

“why would I boycott Canada Goose? If Meng Wanzhou can buy houses and a Canadian residence permit, why can’t I buy some Canadian clothes?”)

This is original content by What's on Weibo that requires investment. You are free to link to this article. Please identify this website or author when you base content on this source or quote from it. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com to buy additional rights. Copyright (C) https://www.whatsonweibo.com. Read more at: https://www.whatsonweibo.com/chinese-consumers-indifferent-to-diplomatic-spat-between-china-and-canada-as-canada-goose-boycott-backlashes/?utm_source=SupChina+Free+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3e4c604352-20180920+newsletter_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_96063830a5-3e4c604352-165094247

Canada Goose Takes Flight in HK

For mainlanders this is the must-have winter jacket these days

Hermes, Chanel, Gucci and now Canada Goose.

The Canadian down jackets are a must-have for mainland Chinese shoppers, and while they have been flying off the racks in luxury department store Holt Renfrew, the US$900 jackets will soon be available in Hong Kong.

This past Christmas when I was in Vancouver, mainlanders descended on racks of Canada Goose jackets at Holt Renfrew, trying them on and snapping them up. I've heard stories of them calling up their friends in China and asking them what size and colour they want, and buying 10 to 12 at a time.

The Chinese are snapping up the jacket in Canada stores

How do they even pack them all into their suitcases?

The latest news is that a sign in Chinese in a Toronto store states shoppers can only buy two jackets per day, probably due to complaints from local residents unable to get their hands on the prized jackets.

Dani Reiss, president and chief executive of Canada Goose knows he's onto a hot product and is eager to expand to Asia.

"A lot of people from the mainland often go to Hong Kong to buy products. That's one of the reasons why it makes sense for us to have a store in Hong Kong," Reiss said. "Even though it's a warm-weather climate, [where the temperature] almost never goes under zero."

Dani Reiss plans to open stores in Hong Kong and Beijing

The Toronto-based company will have two flagship stores, one in Hong Kong, the other in Beijing, and an e-commerce presence on Alibaba's Tmall, and set up an office in Shanghai.

The Hong Kong store will be in IFC mall and is expected to open in the fall. An interesting fact is Reiss is the third generation to run the company that was started by his Polish immigrant grandfather in 1957.

There should be no problem in selling Canada Goose in Hong Kong -- it's subtle in its look, very functional and it's a status symbol to wear. What more do you want in this day and age when Chinese luxury spending has to be a bit more discreet these days?