Lane Crawford

History

Early history

In August 1850, two Scots, Thomas Ash Lane and Ninian Crawford opened a shop in a makeshift bamboo structure on the waterfront at the present location of Des Voeux Road. Taking each of their individual surnames, Lane Crawford later occupied a number of retail sites along Des Voeux Road and Queen's Road Central. In the early 1900s, it expanded with stores in Guangzhou and Shanghai in China, and Kobe and Tokyo in Japan. It offered services including a tailor and outfitter, a draper, a provisions dealer, a wine and spirits merchant, an auctioneer of antiques, a baker, a restaurant, as well as a bar.

During the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong between 1941 and 1945, all Lane Crawford properties and assets were taken over by the Japanese Authorities, who transferred the store's operations to the Japanese chain, Matsuzakaya.

Following damages resulting from the Second Sino-Japanese War, Lane Crawford had to rebuild from scratch, so it began expanding its import-export division from foodstuffs to luxury items such as cosmetics and pearls. By 1975, jewellers accounted for 42 percent of sales.

Present

In 2004, Lane Crawford opened a revamped retail store at IFC Mall. In 2007, the company opened a store at Pacific Place Mall, Hong Kong, focusing on furniture and other lifestyle items. In July 2007, the company returned its presence in Beijing, with the opening of its store in Seasons Place Mall following a HK$300 million investment. The opening of the Beijing store follows the closing of other stores in Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Harbin following a strategy change. During this time, Lane Crawford's focus shifted into becoming specialty department store selling speciality products like haute couture.

In 2012, its second Beijing store was opened at the Yintai Centre. In October 2013, Lane Crawford opened its Shanghai flagship store at Shanghai Times Square. In March 2014, the Chengdu store was opened at Chengdu IFS. In 2014, after 21 years of service, the fashion director of Lane Crawford, Sarah Rutson, left the company.

In June 2017, Lane Crawford was subject to a significant number of complaints by Chinese consumers following mass cancellations of orders that have already been paid for. Following a meeting with the Consumer Protection Agency of China, the company issued a statement justifying the cancellations of 213 orders, citing erroneous pricing due to a systematic error on their website.

In 2020, the president of Lane Crawford, Andrew Keith, left the company after 9 years and was replaced by Blondie Tsang. Jennifer Woo is the current Chairman and CEO of the company.

Awards

• 2008: National Retail Federation's International Award
• 2009: Association for Retail Environment's award for Store of the Year for the Lane Crawford Seasons Place, Beijing
• 2010: WGSN Global Fashion Awards for Outstanding Visual Merchandising
• 2011: Racie's Gold Award for International Campaign awarded by the NRF's Retail Advertising Marketing Association
• 2015: Super Retailer of the Year in the Hong Kong Retail Industry Trade Awards.

Gallery

File:Ifc-mall.jpg|Lane Crawford ifc Mall – Art installation by Hirotoshi Sawada File:Pacific-Place.jpg|Lane Crawford Pacific Place – Men's Contemporary Department File:Pacific-Place-home-store---Home-Office.jpg|Lane Crawford Pacific Place Home – Home Office Department File:Lane Crawford Canton Road.jpg|Lane Crawford Canton Road – Men's Shoes and Accessories Department File:Lane Crawford Times Square Cosmetic Area.jpg|Lane Crawford Times Square – Cosmetic Area File:Lane-Crawford -Beijing.jpg|Lane Crawford Seasons Place Beijing – Ladies Shoes and Accessories Department

Store locations

• IFC Mall, Central, Hong Kong, China
• Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, China
• Pacific Place home store, Pacific Place Mall, Admiralty, Hong Kong
• Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
• Seasons Place, Xicheng District, Beijing, China
• Yintai Centre, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
• Times Square, Huangpu, Shanghai, China
• Chengdu IFS, Jinjiang, Chengdu, China

References

References

1. Fenton, Susan. (29 May 2008). "China's rich have insatiable appetite for haute couture". Reuters.
2. "Data Analytics Policy". Lane Crawford.
3. "The Lane Crawford Joyce Group".
4. "Lane Crawford".
5. "About Us {{!}} Lane Crawford - Shop Designer Brands Online".
6. "The Lane Crawford Bakery, Stubbs Road, 1938-1948 – The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group".
7. (2020-05-15). "Little Ginza in Hong Kong: A Brief History of Causeway Bay's Japanese Department Stores".
8. "Lane Crawford to open wholly owned store in Beijing".
9. "Lane Crawford breaks out".
10. "Lane Crawford to revisit China with Beijing mall".
11. Rothrock, Vicki. (2005-12-22). "Lane Crawford Focuses on 'Change' With Hong Kong Unit".
12. Waldmeir, Patti. "Lane Crawford: betting luxury is still in fashion in China".
13. (2013-07-12). "Lane Crawford Reveals Details Of Shanghai Flagship Opening".
14. McCall, Tyler. (29 August 2014). "Goop Gets Sued, Sarah Rutson Leaves Lane Crawford".
15. (2017-06-13). "Lane Crawford Hit With Complaints by Chinese Consumers".
16. (2020-11-12). "Andrew Keith departs Lane Crawford to head up Selfridges".
17. (2020-10-16). "Blondie Tsang Named President of Lane Crawford, Joyce".
18. Asia, Tatler. "Angelika Goldberg".
19. National Retail Federation [http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=443 "Retail's Most Innovative Leaders To Be Honored At NRF Annual Convention"] ''National Retail Federation''. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2013
20. Association for Retail Environment's award [http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=443 "3 Big Winners for 2009: Lane Crawford, Zu+Elements, VANOC Olympic Store"] ''Association for Retail Environment''. Retrieved 3 March 2013
21. WGSN Global Fashion Awards 2010 [http://worldfashionawards.com/awards/wgsn-global-fashion-awards/ " WGSN Global Fashion Awards 2010"] {{webarchive. link. (6 December 2013 WGSN.)
22. NRF's Retail Advertising Marketing Association [http://www.nrf.com/racies11/campaigns.html " Racie’s Gold Award for International Campaign"] {{webarchive. link. (6 November 2013 ''NRF's Retail Advertising Marketing Association''.)
23. (11 June 2015). "Lane Crawford named Super Retailer of the Year – Inside Retail". Inside Retail.
24. Li, Zoe [http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/shop/lane-crawfords-gigantic-new-store-cashes-mainland-tourists-242150 "Asia's largest shoe department opens in Hong Kong"] CNN. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2012