All Roads Lead to China: Business News, Analysis, and Insights from China

The Xinhua news release Chinese festive spending remains robust, retail sales up 13.8% would seem to provide a beacon of hope for those looking for some light, but not so fast. Initially alerted to the article on twitter (h/t @niubi – see recent Danwei interview of Bill Bishop here), the following chat between myself and [...]

With firms spending 80-100 M USD to be sponsors of the Olympic Games, there are going to be questions. What I have found interesting through my discussions around this topic, and through reading the perspective of others, is that it is all in the matter of context.  Whether firms were trying to use this as [...]

Over the life of All Roads, I have written a few posts about the development of Nanjing Road, and it is time for another edition. to be honest, this is a post I have struggled with as I have been on a retail project for 6 months.. have lots to say about Shanghai’s development, but [...]

Forbes came across the wire with a very interested article entitled Adidas Gets Red Flag, Not Gold Star, From Chinese Consumers on the recent mess Adidas found itself in over their use of the national flag. Apparently starting with a new line of gear to show its support for China (an Olympic play), some reporters [...]

There are more than a few firms in China that have tried and failed to build a successful sales structure, but AMWAY is not one of them. Even with their model being lumped in with pyramid scams for a long time, and thus being restricted in China up until a few years ago, AMWAY has [...]

Last year while enduring a jack hammer educed headache I wrote a post entitled Nanjing Road… Will the Construction Ever End? where I wondered if the construction on Nanjing Road would ever come to an end. After all, it is the showcase street for Shanghai. Well, 12 months after that post, while working on a [...]

In yet another retail fatality, I am sorry to announce that the WB store is officially gone. Cut down to half the size a year or so ago, this store has been rumored to be on the brink for a while now… and it was just that time. Unfortunately, the WB store is not the [...]

Just stumbled onto an article in the USA Today Home Depot at home in China for holidays (via Blogging Stocks) . To say the least, Home Depot had a difficult time getting into the market. they had several failed merger attempts, several management turnovers, and in the end paid a tidy sum to take up [...]