Wenzhou's small and medium-sized shoe enterprises "evaporate" year by year

Nowadays, with overcapacity, the local footwear industry is booming. Everyone is better than brands, funds, and powerful marketing networks. These are precisely the weaknesses of SMEs. As the "Chinese shoes capital," Wenzhou shoe companies had reached more than 4,000 at the peak, but the number of them fell to 3,055. From the moment of the moment to the relatively lonely nowadays, what are the reasons for Wenzhou shoe shuffling?

Foreign shoe companies seize Wenzhou’s share

Wen Jian Zhu Wenbin, who runs shoes wholesale in Wuhan, visited Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Chengdu and other places to inspect the market. He felt that foreign colleagues went to Wenzhou to see less orders, but went to Hebei, Henan, and Hunan to get more goods. Because of the same low-end shoes, the pair of shoes in these places is about 8 yuan less than Wenzhou.

In the past two years, the footwear industry in Hebei, Henan, and other inland areas has risen rapidly. With the advantages of lower costs such as labor, utilities, and factories, it has seized a large share of the low-end footwear market, and Wenzhou's low-end shoes have been significantly affected. "This phenomenon is worrying, and may even endanger the status of 'Chinese shoes'." Zhu Jianbin, who has more than ten years of shoe wholesale experience, is full of emotion.

Also in the city's largest physical shoe wholesale market - Wenzhou Shoes City, the reporter interviewed to understand that the original pattern of Wenzhou shoes dominated the world has become Wenzhou, Fujian, Guangdong three world. Some business households from the previous兼营Guangdong and Fujian shoes into a franchise Guangdong shoes and Fujian shoes, the industry's original popular "Guangzhou shoes leading the trend, Wenzhou shoes leading market," the picture has increasingly been ruthless challenges.

"The price of Guangdong shoes is not much higher than that of Wenzhou, especially the popular canvas shoes this year. The style is not comparable to many Wenzhou shoes." said a female worker who manages casual shoes on the second floor of the shoe city. Reporters in the shoe city circle found that many stalls to go empty, become a warehouse, lively scene is not as good as in previous years, there are business households revealed that the shoe city in Wenzhou in recent years, the proportion of local shoes is much less than before.

The statement of the wholesaler and the shoe city information reflect the current status of Wenzhou's leather shoes. In fact, the number of shoe-making enterprises in Wenzhou has continued to shrink in recent years. In 2003, there were more than 4,000 shoe-making enterprises of a certain size in the entire industry. By this year, this number had become 3,055, and in the past seven years, it had evaporated more than 1,000 items. Family.

Costs are rising and overburdened

What makes Wenzhou small and medium-sized shoe companies “evaporate” year by year?

As the cost of raw materials and labor rises, the profit margin is further squeezed. In addition to the financial crisis of the previous year, the fragile small and medium footwear industry in the capital chain has struggled. In 2008, the Municipal Economic and Trade Commission conducted a statistical survey on 31 industrial towns and 15,521 small and medium-sized enterprises in the development zone. The results showed that the number of companies that stopped working or closed down was 8.1% of the total number of surveys, and one-third of them were shoe enterprises.

The cost of land restrictions and labor continued to rise. Some shoe companies fought in Sichuan, Hubei and neighboring Taizhou and Lishui, and some even moved abroad. At the same time, there are more relocations of tanneries that are associated with shoemaking, and the increase in logistics transportation costs, which also weakens the competitiveness of local low-end shoe companies.

The homogeneity of competition is too severe and some enterprises are also changing. City Leather Industry Association revealed that at the same place in Wenzhou, the latest models on the market were soon imitated. There was no secret between peers at all, and many companies were therefore far away from home.

In recent years, frequent trade barriers such as gray customs clearance and anti-dumping are also the reasons. Wenzhou shoes are heavily dependent on exports. From January to September this year, footwear accounted for 26% of the city's total exports, accounting for 62% of the province's footwear exports. It is a real leather shoe export market, and some strong companies are trying to avoid Open trade barriers, simply moved the processing plant to a foreign country, and upgraded “Made in Wenzhou” to “Made in the World”.

Transformation and upgrading are easier said than done

In the interview, the reporter heard the most “business is getting harder and harder”; no one wants to become bigger and stronger, but it is a bit difficult to put it into practice.

At the middle and low end of the shoe factory in Yongqiao and Shuangyu, a manager of a Dexier Shoes Company told reporters that they have six or seven sets of grinding tools, three assembly lines, more than 70 workers, with an annual output value of 2000. Ten thousand yuan. At present, a set of grinding tools is about 60,000 yuan, and the assembly line is about 800,000 yuan. According to the current industry average of 8% profit, if you go to the high-end, the cost of optical equipment needs to be doubled, more than a year's net profit of the shoe factory.

Design and R&D has always been the weakness of our city's small and medium shoe companies. Once the style is wrong, it is easy to lose money. This is also the reason that many shoe companies are aware of the dangers, but they still have a swarm of bees to sell styles. "Cangnan is a mid-to-high-end shoe company. Since the design of the open-end shoe is not done well, there is also a problem with management. In two years, it closed down." Manager Ma said that there is of course a temptation to become bigger and stronger, but most small and medium-sized enterprises can only stabilize. Play it steady, because it really can not afford to lose.

Various uncertain high risks make SMEs less enthusiastic in their transformation and upgrading. A leader of a shoe factory in Longwan District told reporters that they would send 890,000 pairs of shoes to dealers all over the country and that they would not be able to sell them anymore. This kind of “small wealth is safe” thought exists. Less other small factories.

Despite the influence of various factors inside and outside, Wenzhou shoes are not as good as the previous years, but Wenzhou shoes still have its market and reputation. An Chongqing businessman who purchased from Wenzhou Shoes City interviewed the reporter and said that Wenzhou shoe design still has its own uniqueness, and the Wenzhou shoe leather industry chain is very perfect. As long as these advantages are fully utilized, Wenzhou shoes will not decline. Another wholesaler from Henan said that he and many of his peers still like to deal with Wenzhou shoe owners because they are "rich, trustworthy and loyal." Shuffling is not necessarily a bad thing.

“The footwear industry is a veteran industry in Wenzhou. Even if there are no external factors, it will shuffle itself.” According to industry sources, the market competition for Wenzhou footwear has been fierce. After years of competition, Wenzhou shoe industry as a whole showed a "1 + N" pattern.

This "1" refers to the first group army that has completed brand building and established a strong marketing network, such as Kangnai, Aokang, and Hung Hom. "N" refers to those whose production capacity is not weak, but they are in OEM processing. Small and medium-sized shoe companies, many of them became the "processing factory" of the first group army. It is understood that there are even dozens of "1"s in the city's bull market and "N"s in the back. These "1"s concentrate on building brands and developing value-added products, while more outsourcing processing. This kind of strong and weak combination not only enables many small and medium-sized enterprises to play a role in the professional production of superior products, but also makes some big brands come to the fore.

“From this point of view, Wenzhou shoe enterprises are still healthy in cooperation in the competition.” Xie Yufang, secretary-general of the Municipal Footwear Association, analyzes that the reduction trend of SMEs will continue, and more SMEs will restructure and enter the future. The industry's industrial chain, which is the law of survival of the fittest, dictates that, in this sense, the sharp decline in Wenzhou shoe companies is not a bad thing.