Cha Ling shutters physical China stores
Skincare brand Cha Ling has shuttered its stores in China after Covid-19-related disruptions. Cha Ling stated that the store shift is part of the luxury skincare brand’s operation plan. It will continue to retail via Sephora as an exclusive brand in China. Born out of an ecological dream in 2016, that of protecting the forests of Yunnan in China, CHA LING is the latest cosmetics brand created by LVMH Research, at the crossroads of two great cultures: France and China.
The LVMH-owned Cha Ling closed its Shanghai HKRI Taikoo Hu store this June as the city emerged from a two-month lockdown. The store closure was aimed at “optimizing the brand’s retail strategy,” according to Cha Ling’s official WeChat account. Cha Ling’s Pudong and Hangzhou stores have also closed in recent years. In addition to its brick-and-mortar store closures, Cha Ling has closed its WeChat Mini Program store. It currently operates an official Tmall store in China.
During a visit to China, Laurent Boillot, CEO of Guerlain and founder of CHA LING, met the German biologist Josef Margraf, dubbed the “Green Hero” for his work on biodiversity, as well as his wife, Minguo, a Chinese journalist originally from Yunnan. Their project was to revive the production of forest tea in order to save this natural enclave from the threat of deforestation, grow the resources of local minorities and preserve their cultural and spiritual heritage. A vision was born from this meeting, one that guided the creation of the brand, that of an environmentally-friendly line of cosmetics, based on detoxifying Pu’Er tea, and with part of the proceeds going to the preservation of the age-old forests of Yunnan. With the brand philosophy "Beauty with a meaning, for you, for others and for the world", Cha Ling hopes to share its sustainable skincare philosophy of "CHUN CUI" with consumers while promising to commit a portion of its proceeds to the conservation of Yunnan tea forests.
