Asia Pacific Finance Express: Bai Jingting Opens New Shanghai Store, GOODBAI Expansion Strategy

Recently, a huge hoarding quietly went up along Yanqingfang, Shanghai, for brand GOODEES WORLD. This is the first national store of the sub-line under well-known actor Bai Jingting's brand GOODBAI, not far from his cafe, clothing store, and 24-hour vending machine.

Two months ago, GOODBAI also opened a pop-up space here, with a giant poster of Bai Jingting attracting countless visitors. Hence, Yanqing Road has been called 'Bai Jingting's street'. Many celebrities start brands, but in terms of business ecosystem, channel construction, and expansion pace, Bai Jingting is arguably one of the savviest bosses in the entertainment industry.

The five-bay small Western-style building along Yanqing Road is GOODBAI's first physical store nationwide. Founded in 2021, GOODBAI is a clothing and lifestyle brand by celebrity Bai Jingting. In 2023, when the store opened, it triggered queues and scalpers, with some queuing nearly 7 hours.

Even three years later, on an ordinary weekday afternoon, the store was bustling, with many customers shopping, trying on, and taking photos.

The store design is vintage and minimalist, with dove motifs (dove is Bai's fan nickname) everywhere. Categories include clothes, shoes, hats, bags, and accessories. Compared to other celebrity brands, GOODBAI's pricing is not too expensive, ranging from 39 to 2,900 yuan. For example, T-shirts are mostly 199 yuan, shoes 159-799 yuan, canvas bags, hats, jewelry mostly tens to a few hundred yuan.

GOODBAI's most iconic product is the 'Wandering Shoes', priced at 459 yuan, ranking 9th on Tmall's sports casual shoe repurchase list, ahead of Adidas, FILA, Anta, Asics, Xtep, etc. This ranking reflects GOODBAI's influence to some extent.

The upcoming GOODEES WORLD store has a dedicated section in the store. This sub-line originates from its original IP, the furball image on the hoarding. Different from the main brand GOODBAI's casual sportswear style, GOODEES WORLD is positioned as 'cute, warm, healing', with products like shoes, clothing, phone cases, plush keychains, hair accessories. On Tmall flagship store, its 129 yuan zodiac plush keychain has sold over 7,000 units; the vending machine on Yanqing Road sold out of 99 yuan baseball cap keychains.

Since its inception, GOODBAI and its sub-lines have collaborated with multiple brands, including Salomon, Diptyque, New Era, Levi's, BABY-G, Holiland, Linefriends minini, etc. These range from the hottest aspirational brands to national brands and streetwear, covering a wide spectrum.

Besides shoes, clothing, and IP derivatives, Boss Bai's business map also includes coffee and bakery. Not far from GOODBAI's Yanqing Road store is Bai's cafe, with coffee priced at 28-48 yuan, similar to other specialty coffee shops in Shanghai. In 2024, its 'GOODEES Daman' small cookies at 21 yuan for two pieces sparked online controversy.

Beyond Yanqing Road, GOODBAI has opened two other physical stores in Chengdu and Aranya, and pop-up/slow shops in Beijing, Paris, and Seoul. In addition to its own online and offline channels, GOODBAI has entered some multi-brand stores, like Musinsa, known as 'Korea's Uniqlo'. From selling shoes, clothing, coffee to IP derivatives, Bai Jingting is building a complete consumption ecosystem around young people's lifestyles.

When the 'shoe king of the entertainment industry' starts a shoe and clothing business, it now covers casual sportswear, women's wear, and outdoor fields.

Logic of Celebrities Starting Brands: The 'String of Pearls' Beyond Traffic and Ecosystem Building

In the entertainment circle, many celebrities start brands. Edison Chen has CLOT, Jackson Wang has TEAM WANG, Daniel Wu sells coffee, and Hua Chenyu launched his own daily chemical brand this year. Why are celebrities keen on creating their own brands?

In an interview with Bazaar Men, Bai Jingting spoke about how Maugham compared the feeling of fame to being given a string of pearls. Bai often thought, 'Can I find another such string of pearls?' GOODBAI and other brands are Bai's second string of pearls found out of a sense of security.

Celebrities starting brands have natural traffic advantages, and their rise process is similar to many emerging apparel brands: social media seeding, pop-up stores, first stores in prime business districts. However, celebrities and their friends are walking 'seeding machines' — many stars have appeared in public wearing GOODBAI products.

But celebrity brands often face 'cash grab' controversies or fizzle out. Moreover, deep brand-celebrity binding risks 'one glory, one loss'.

Product & Public Opinion: Quality Notices and Recall Promises

GOODBAI also faced negative publicity due to product quality. In 2024, Shanghai market supervision bureau reported one of its denim jackets had pH value not meeting mandatory national standards. In 2025, a 599 yuan sweatshirt was reported to have glue peeling off, with the back pattern imprinting on car seats. After exposure, the brand's affiliated company issued an apology, announced a recall of relevant batches, and pledged rectification.

Notably, GOODBAI's affiliated company, Zhentinghao (Shanghai) Brand Management Co., Ltd., is held by Bai Jingting (41%), Shangguan Zhe (29%), and Li Yong (10%). Designer Shangguan Zhe's own brand has appeared at London Fashion Week, etc., and Li Yong has years of experience in the apparel industry. So Bai's shoe/clothing business involves industry insiders for professional support in design, production, and supply chain.

Multi-Brand Extension & Category Expansion: Sports, Outdoor, and Young Female Segments

Personally, Bai Jingting is a well-known 'shoe king' in the entertainment circle, loves multiple sports, and himself is a brand ambassador for New Era, Salomon, etc. As sports demand diversifies, GOODBAI has developed sub-series like football (916 express) and tennis (polomove).

Besides GOODBAI (casual sportswear), Bai's affiliated companies also own teenteens (young women), Ayrae (women's fashion), and 30C (outdoor fashion). For example, 30C taps into the outdoor trend with street style, fitting current outdoor consumption and design advantages. 30C has already opened a store on Xiaohongshu, with Bai's same-style vest sold out in multiple sizes.

In fact, from hit casual sportswear shoes and trendy IP plush toys to outdoor fashion, Bai Jingting's every step basically rides the trend. From this perspective, Boss Bai's business relies on more than just luck and traffic.

Looking at the series of collaborations above, some brands already work with Bai as an artist. Actually, the biggest fear for celebrity brands is becoming mere celebrity merchandise. How to expand beyond the fan economy to a broader market is exactly what Bai's brands are doing and will continue to do long-term.

As Bai said, 'Even if separated from me as a person, consumers still recognize it, many still like it and think it looks good—that is my ultimate goal.'