Lane Crawford is a retail company with speciality stores selling luxury goods in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Founded in Hong Kong in 1850, Lane Crawford has more than 54,348 square metres of total retail space, including several physical locations throughout China, as well as an online store. Lane Crawford is a part of The Lane Crawford Joyce Group, a fashion retail and brand management group in Asia, which also includes fashion storeJoyce Boutique, fashion footwear, handbags and accessories specialist Pedder Group and retail, brand management and distribution company ImagineX.
History
Early History In August 1850, two Scots, Thomas Ash Lane and Ninian Crawford, opened a shop in a makeshift bamboo structure on the waterfront of what is now Des Voeux Road. Since that time, Lane Crawford has occupied a number of prime retail sites along Des Voeux Road and Queen's Road Central; in the early 1900s it also had stores in Guangzhou and Shanghai in China, and Kobe and Tokyo in Japan. It has been a tailor, and outfitter, a draper, a provisions dealer, a wine and spirits merchant, an auctioneer of antiques, a baker, a restaurant and a bar. The company slogan evolved from "The Place to Buy Anything from a Pin to an Anchor" to "Whatever You Need, Get It at Lane Crawford's". After the war, Lane Crawford was forced to rebuild from scratch, and so it began to expand its import export division from foodstuffs to include luxury items such as cosmetics and pearls. By 1978, jewellery accounted for 60 percent of sales. On 3 March 1950, Lane Crawford celebrated its centenary in a roof gardencocktail party at the Hongkong Hotel. Among the distinguished guests present at the function the Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham, and Lady Grantham. ;Present Today, the focus has shifted from department store to speciality store. Its stores in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai sell womenswear, menswear, shoes & accessories, lingerie, jewellery, cosmetics, and home & lifestyle goods from around the world. In 2004, Lane Crawford launched a new style of retail store at IFC Mall. In 2007, the company opened a freestanding "home store" at Pacific Place Mall, Hong Kong, and its first modern-day store in Seasons Place Mall, Beijing. Lane Crawford's buyers became participants in European fashion shows, and the company's stores were noted for presenting brands recognised as leading designers in the West but relatively unknown in China. In 2011, Lane Crawford started an e-commerce site. In 2012, its second Beijing store was opened at the Yintai Centre. In October 2013, Lane Crawford opened its Shanghai flagship store at Shanghai Times Square. In March 2014, the Chengdu store was opened at Chengdu IFS.
Online store
The online business ships globally, but has been purpose-built for the China market with multiple distribution points in Greater China to ensure same-day delivery in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, and next-day delivery in primary cities.
Awards
In 2008, Lane Crawford received The National Retail Federation's International Award, selected by industry leaders from around the world and co-ordinated by the main body in Washington DC. It also won the Association for Retail Environment's award for Store of the Year, for Lane Crawford Seasons Place, Beijing ; the WGSN Global Fashion Awards for Outstanding Visual Merchandising and Racie's Gold Award for International Campaign awarded by the NRF's Retail Advertising Marketing Association. In 2015, Lane Crawford was named Super Retailer of the Year in the Hong Kong Retail Industry Trade Awards.
