ImagineX seeks people with a keen sense of style to continue the march of luxury brands on the mainland
When ImagineX Group set out in 1992 to 'bring a taste of western luxury to China', many observers questioned the company's sanity. Back then, the prospects for sales of designer labels appeared dim at best, but, 15 years on, the company has proved the critics wrong.
Today the luxury brand distributor employs almost 1,500 staff and has more than 300 shops across Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland. Trendy boutiques can be found not only in major locations like Shanghai and Beijing, but also in second-tier cities such as Tianjin, Harbin, Qingdao and even Urumqi in the northeast.
Iris Ng Wai-chung, ImagineX's group personnel and administration manager, said mainland consumers now had more spending power and a new interest in luxury clothes and accessories. She said even people on monthly salaries of 3,000 yuan to 4,000 yuan a month were becoming regular customers because they had confidence in their earning potential.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, the company is part of the Lane Crawford Joyce Group and opened the first Salvatore Ferragamo and Hugo Boss boutiques in the mainland in 1994. Now it manages outlets for 23 international brands in Greater China, including Coach, Paul& Shark, DKNY and Versace.
Originally, the various stores were overseen from Hong Kong, but in 2001 a Shanghai office was set up, and another in Beijing in 2005. However, finding the right calibre of office and frontline staff has not always been easy.