Go to Beijing not to eat Quanjude, go to Tianjin not to eat the dog's food now seems to have become an invisible consensus in the minds of travel consumers.
These stores have lost their former glory, fallen from grace, and are even disgusting.
Throughout China's existing century-old stores can be said to be few left, Quanjude and Gogu is only one or two of the decline, what other century-old stores in China have suffered the fate of decline? What are the reasons for the decline? And can they save themselves?
01 Shanghai Old Half Fast
Shanghai's Lao Han Zhai Restaurant was founded in 1905, 117 years ago, and is one of the few remaining century-old restaurants in Shanghai.
Many of the signature dishes of Lao Han Zhai are memorable and endless, such as giblet, choked tiger tail, lion's head, etc., which are the precious memories of a generation.
The old half Zhai after years of baptism and precipitation, has long been not just a food and drink restaurant, it carries the history and culture of the city, is the proud existence of Shanghai people.
But now the old half fast can no longer afford the name of the century-old restaurant, in earlier, that is, 16 years in April, a Japanese television station produced a search for "zero score restaurant" variety show, Shanghai Fuzhou Road on an old half fast unfortunately included.
I thought that the old Chinese brand can successfully face foreign visitors, and incidentally promote the spread of Chinese food culture, but what we did not expect is that the old half fast is so indisputable.
According to the visitors, the service attitude in the old half fast store is very poor, and the restaurant atmosphere is very noisy and chaotic, and there are even many employees playing cards, which very much affects the dining experience.
Once this program was aired, it caused quite a stir in both China and Japan, and many Chinese felt that Japan was maliciously smearing our old Chinese brands.
Japan has always attached great importance to the standard of service, so the old half-sai may seem a little inferior in comparison, but not to score zero points.
But there are still problems, such as the old half fast waiters in the work of the busier times, there will indeed be a hard attitude.
It is also true that employees play cards, albeit during leisure breaks, but this can have a bad effect on the image of the restaurant.
Although the old half Zhai has not yet reached the same level of annoyance and rejection of customers like Quanjude Dogs, but now the reputation has long been much worse than before.
The reason for the decline in the reputation of the old half fast is more in the business management model, now the society is fickle, people are also very fickle.
Old half fast before the old seniority waiter has long retired, now the recruitment of waiters without qualitative, often need to change.
If the "essence" of craftsmanship is not stable, how can craftsmanship be brought into play? It is no wonder that the reputation of Lao Han Zhai is not as good as it used to be.
02 Yangzhou Fuchun Tea House
"You can't be considered to have been to Yangzhou without having eaten its morning tea", indeed, if we go out to have fun we must go to taste the local specialties so that the trip will be worthwhile.
The first choice for morning tea in Yangzhou is naturally the famous local Fuchun Tea House, which is located in an old part of Yangzhou and has a long history dating back to 1885.
In the 137-year history of the development of the Fuchun Tea House has formed its own signature and characteristics, a combination of tea and dim sum, dishes are also full of color and flavor, and the environment is comfortable and elegant.
The famous literary scholars Zhu Ziqing and Bing Xin have all praised his pen.
Fuchun tea house "mixed flower" supply method is unique, the tea house in the past is basically half a cage or a cage to sell, but if the cage is a taste, the customer will inevitably be a little bored, the consumer's choice is also greatly reduced.
So Fuchun Tea House came up with a good reform method, so that each cage contains different flavors and styles of dim sum, and no longer have to be sold on the basis of one cage.
Such a sales model allows customers to taste different kinds of flavors at once, which well meets the diversified needs of customers.
But this is such a unique business model of the old store can not escape the fate of degradation, according to customer feedback, many areas of the Fuchun tea house have a decline in quality, substandard and many other problems.
For example, the dough of the buns are not completely developed, the filling inside is very mushy, and many dishes are not packed in suitable containers, thus making the taste much less.
Fuchun Tea House now has a variety of problems are a big disappointment to many consumers, known as lying in the "book of merit" it is also losing the trust of the public.
Although many century-old stores have been exposed to many problems in the test of the times, but there is no shortage of those who actively seek change, standing Chinese long-established, originated in the Jiaxing area of Wu Fang Zhai is the best example.
Wu Fang Zhai was formally established in 1921, at first only selling dumplings, by 1992, Wu Fang Zhai has been awarded the title of "Chinese Old Brand" by the Ministry of International Trade.
Compared to other century-old stores of the rules, store big bullying and other vices, Wu Fang Zhai can be said to be a clear stream in the swamp of sludge.
Wufangzhai as early as 2008 according to the market gradually younger, diversified demand for timely transformation and upgrading, Wufangzhai not only expanded sales channels, the original local brand into a well-known national brand.
The company has also expanded its business scope from the previous single product of dumplings to a product structure that includes mooncakes, dumplings and dumplings.
In addition, Wufangzhai also pays special attention to the consumer needs of young people and consumer philosophy, and constantly makes changes according to the preferences of young people.
Also a century-old store, the reason why Wu Fang Zhai has been standing is that it has always put innovation in the first place, the needs of consumers as a top priority, has been doing its best to integrate this society, rather than empty old posture, relying on the old sell the old.
03 How did the 100-year signboard collapse little by little?
As the saying goes, freezing three feet is not a day's cold, many century-old stores now have a flood of bad reviews and a sharp decline in reputation, which is the result of their excessive consumption of customer trust.
The preciousness of the old brand does not lie in the number of years of history it has, but in the special complex it contains, the old brand from scratch, through thick and thin, has become a lingering memory of generations of people.
The reason why a brand can be called a long-established brand, that means it is outstanding and unparalleled in the category.
It is a local business card and symbol, containing a rich historical and cultural heritage, the extinction of any old brand is a huge cultural loss.
The old brand and other brands compared to the original has won in the starting line, it not only has a high market recognition, awareness, and has a strong mass base.
Many of these old brands have also been successfully selected as non-patrimonial brands, supported by unique national policy dividends.
But even with such great advantages, many century-old stores still can not escape the fate of decay, the root is that these century-old stores are held up on the altar of forgetfulness, do not think about progress, the consumer sentiment and trust a little to wear out.
Catering is undoubtedly a service industry, in today's relatively affluent material life, we are no longer pursuing basic sustenance, but a sense of service and experience, centuries-old stores have closed down for several reasons other than the following reasons.
First, the lack of innovative ability
Nowadays, the restaurant industry is booming and the market competition is very fierce. Many stores have been innovating and changing to meet the diverse needs of consumers and want to attract their attention.
But the century-old stores are posing the old qualifications, they are not willing to change with the times, think their signs can endure, so they prefer to sit and eat.
But you know, in today's great material abundance, coupled with the development of Internet technology, the consumer's desire for satisfaction has been greatly increased.
Some of the stores that have gone to great lengths to come up with new tricks can still barely maintain the freshness and repeat rate of their customers, and these old, unchanging stores have obviously lost their competitiveness compared to them.
The old brand may be able to meet the needs of the older generation at the time, but definitely not the needs of young people now, innovation is the first productive force at any time, without the spirit of innovation of the store is not destined to go long.
Second, haphazard price tag
Buy something has always been about value for money, delicious and cheap to account for at least the same, so that consumers will be willing to pay for this, the restaurant industry is almost transparent profits, raw materials are on the table, the price increase space at a glance.
For example, the cost of a bun is generally in the 50 cents to about 1 yuan, you sell a 2 to 3 yuan people think it is very reasonable, but because of the old sign and random premium to more than 10 yuan that is a little too exaggerated.
Emotion is certainly valuable, but not a flood of cheap, old is never the reason for the store haphazard price tag.
Third, the sense of service experience is too poor
The fundamental reason that can support a store to last is quality, but good service and effective marketing campaigns are also essential.
However, many century-old store service staff but store big bullying customers, often appear to consumers with a hard attitude, service impatience, thus corrupting the edge of the road.
Finally, many century-old stores actually get the wrong business focus, they think consumers are simply for the sentiment and name to buy, so emboldened.
But know that sentiment is fleeting, only the real service and quality is the hard truth to attract customers.
04 How can a 100-year old store be invincible in a rapidly changing market?
The old brand is the centralized representative of a national brand, which carries the emotions of people from generation to generation and has great economic and cultural value.
Long-established brands are rooted in traditional Chinese culture and have unique, irreplaceable connotations and brand effects.
Centennial stores should use consumers' memories and emotions as endless wealth, rather than consuming them day in and day out.
Old brands need to add new era elements while maintaining good quality, so that the brand concept is deeply engraved in the minds of consumers.
To survive in the ever-changing market environment, old brands must learn to innovate and change, using new materials and combining new technologies to produce more unique products that meet the needs of today's consumers.
The old company should also try to open up new publicity and marketing channels, do not be stubborn, thinking that the old sign can always be unique, lasting forever.
Whether it is goods or people, to survive in the cruel society should learn to adapt to the social environment, and do not expect the environment in turn with you.
The old company should learn to put down the noble head, with a new and changing heart to continue to develop new markets and regain the trust of consumers.
The spirit of innovation is certainly important, but the old brand in the pursuit of innovation at the same time must not forget the original, we call innovation is the improvement on the original basis, the old brand is expensive in the word "old".
Of course, the old here refers neither to the age-old name nor to the unchanging merchandise, but to the rare characteristics of the old that arise from the fusion of high quality and high service.
The traditional taste and memory of the old brand is their core competitiveness, if blindly follow the trend of loss of self, then the brand will face a homogenization crisis, and thus be replaced by other similar brands, and ultimately accelerate the pace of extinction.
A brand can be called a long-established is determined by a number of factors, such as excellent quality, impeccable service attitude, the creation and maintenance of reputation, and the heritage of artisans who adhere to the heart, any one of which is essential.
To rejuvenate an old brand, regain a foothold in the market is a long and difficult process, the revitalization of the old brand is actually to make the old tree new branches, the need for "living inheritance".
The heritage of the old brand is not only the heritage of skills, products and services, but also the heritage of culture. Only when the business heritage and cultural heritage complement each other, the two can go hand in hand, in order to ensure to the greatest extent the development of the old brand is alive and well.
Summary
Nowadays, many old stores have disappeared in the long history of the news let people painfully, once those famous old stores also gradually disappeared in the public field of vision, which is not only negative consumer expectations more detrimental to the dissemination of culture and inheritance.
Old brands are an important part of the cultural self-confidence of a region or even a country, and they contain traditional Chinese culture, etiquette and morality, as well as business integrity.
The old brand can well promote the excellent history and culture and show the unique city style, which is one of the important plates of revitalizing the national brand strategy.
I sincerely hope that all the surviving old brands can learn from the pain, do not forget the original intention, the old and new, so that the current generation can really see and experience what is the old look and new face, the long history.
References
〖1〗Revitalize the old brand and create new glory again. Baotou Daily January 05, 2017
〖2〗Innovation is the perpetual power of enterprise development. Baotou Daily January 10, 2017
〖3〗Don't wait for the prosperity to become a memory. Shanxi Daily November 18, 2015