Entertainment Business: Bai Jingting's GOODBAI Multi-Store Expansion and Collaboration Trends
Recently, a huge hoarding quietly went up along Yanqingfang, Shanghai, from the brand GOODEES WORLD. This is the first national store of a sub-brand under GOODBAI, founded by well-known actor Bai Jingting. Not far away are his coffee shop, clothing store, and 24-hour vending machine.
In the previous two months, GOODBAI had also opened a pop-up space here, with Bai Jingting's huge poster attracting many for photo ops. Therefore, Yanqing Road was once called 'Bai Jingting's street'. There are many celebrities who start brands, but in terms of business ecosystem, channel construction, and expansion pace, Bai Jingting is arguably one of the best entrepreneurs in the Chinese entertainment industry.
First Store on Yanqing Road: Multi-Product Matrix and Vintage Minimalist Store
The five-bay small villa along Yanqing Road is the first physical store of GOODBAI nationwide. The brand was founded in 2021 by well-known actor Bai Jingting as a clothing and lifestyle brand. In 2023, when the GOODBAI store opened, it caused a frenzy of queueing and scalpers, with some people queuing for nearly 7 hours.
Even three years later, on an ordinary weekday afternoon, the store was bustling with customers, many shopping, trying on, and taking photos.
The overall store design is vintage and minimalist, with dove (the nickname for Bai Jingting's fans) elements everywhere. In terms of categories, GOODBAI covers clothing, shoes, hats, bags, and accessories. Compared with other celebrity streetwear brands, GOODBAI's pricing is not too high, generally ranging from 39 to 2,900 yuan. For example, its T-shirts are mostly priced at 199 yuan, shoes are concentrated in the 159-799 yuan range, and canvas bags, hats, and jewelry are mostly in the tens to two to three hundred yuan range.
One of GOODBAI's most popular products is the 'Wanderer' shoe, priced at 459 yuan, ranking 9th in Tmall's sports casual shoe repurchase list, behind giants like Adidas, FILA, Anta, Asics, and Xtep. This ranking reflects GOODBAI's influence to some extent.
GOODEES WORLD: Cute Healing IP and Vending Machine Linkage
The soon-to-open first store of GOODEES WORLD also has a dedicated section inside the existing store. This sub-line originates from its original IP, the fluffy ball image on the hoarding. Different from the main brand GOODBAI's casual sports style, GOODEES WORLD is positioned as 'cute, warm, healing', and its products include shoes, clothing, phone cases, plush keychains, and hair accessories.
On its Tmall flagship store, the 129-yuan zodiac sign plush keychain has sold over 7,000 pieces; and in the vending machine on Yanqing Road, 99-yuan baseball cap keychains are already sold out.
Collaborations and Channel Layout: Salomon, Diptyque, New Era, etc.
Since its inception, GOODBAI and its sub-lines have released co-branded products with multiple brands, such as Salomon, Diptyque, New Era, Levi's, BABY-G, Haolilai, and Linefriends minini. These include both the hottest new favorites among the middle class and national brands and streetwear brands, covering a wide range.
In addition to shoes, clothing, and IP derivatives, Boss Bai's business map also includes coffee and bakery. Not far from the GOODBAI Yanqing Road store is Bai Jingting's coffee shop, with a cup of coffee priced at 28-48 yuan, similar to other boutique coffee shops in Shanghai. In 2024, the pricing of its 'GOODEES Great Satisfaction' mini 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 has set up pop-up/slow stores in Beijing, Paris, Seoul, and other places. In addition to its own online and offline channels, GOODBAI has also entered some multi-brand stores, such as Musinsa, known as 'Korea's Uniqlo'. From selling shoes, clothing, and coffee to IP derivatives, Bai Jingting is building a complete consumption ecosystem around young people's lifestyles.
Advantages and Risks of Celebrity-Built Brands: Quality Controversies and Supply Chain Support
In the entertainment industry, many artists have started brands. Chen Guanxi has CLOT, Wang Jiaer has TEAM WANG, Wu Yanzu has started selling coffee, and Hua Chenyu launched his own daily chemical brand this year. Why are celebrities keen on starting their own brands?
In an interview with Bazaar Men, Bai Jingting talked about how Somerset Maugham once compared the feeling of fame to being given a string of pearls. Bai Jingting often thinks, 'Can I find another such string of pearls?' Brands like GOODBAI are his second string of pearls, found out of a sense of security.
Celebrities have natural traffic advantages when building brands, and their process of gaining popularity is similar to that of many emerging clothing brands: using social media seeding, pop-up store testing, and opening first stores in core business districts. However, the star and their friends are walking influencers themselves; many celebrities have been seen wearing GOODBAI products in public.
But celebrity-built brands often fall into the controversy of 'fleecing fans' or gradually fizzle out. At the same time, because the brand is deeply tied to the celebrity, it is prone to the risk of 'all glory or all ruin'.
GOODBAI has also faced negative publicity over product quality issues. In 2024, the Shanghai Market Supervision Administration reported that one of its denim jackets did not comply with mandatory national standards for pH value. In 2025, a 599-yuan GOODBAI sweatshirt was reported to have its print peeling off, with the back pattern transferred to a car seat. After the incident, the brand's affiliated company issued an apology announcement, recalling the relevant batch of products and promising rectification.
It is worth noting that the company affiliated with GOODBAI, Zheyutinghao (Shanghai) Brand Management Co., Ltd., is held by Bai Jingting, Shangguan Zhe, and Li Yong with stakes of 41%, 29%, and 10% respectively. Among them, designer Shangguan Zhe's own brand has appeared at London Fashion Week, and Li Yong also has many years of experience in the clothing industry. Therefore, Bai Jingting's involvement in the shoe and clothing business is actually supported by industry professionals, with professional support in design, production, and supply chain.
From Casual Sports to Pan-Outdoor: Segmented Tracks and Multi-Brands
In terms of Bai Jingting personally, he is known as the 'shoe king' in the entertainment industry, loves multiple sports, and is himself a brand ambassador for New Era, Salomon, and other sports and outdoor brands. As sports needs become more segmented and diversified, GOODBAI has gradually developed segmented clothing series in football (916 express) and tennis (polomove).
Besides the casual sports style GOODBAI, Bai Jingting's affiliated companies also own young women's brand teenteens, women's fashion brand Ayrae, and trendy outdoor brand 30C. Taking 30C as an example, it chooses to enter the outdoor trend with a fashionable style, fitting the current pan-outdoor consumption demand and its own design strengths. Currently, 30C has opened a store on Xiaohongshu first, with Bai Jingting's same-style vests already sold out in many sizes.
In fact, from the popular shoes in the casual sports style, to the trendy IP plush toys in the popular segment, to the pan-outdoor field, Bai Jingting's every step basically hits the trend. From this perspective, Boss Bai's business success relies on more than just luck and traffic.
From the series of collaborations mentioned earlier, some brands actually have existing cooperation with Bai Jingting as an artist. In fact, the biggest fear for a celebrity brand is to become a mere sideline product of the celebrity. How to move beyond the fan economy to a broader market may be what Bai Jingting's brands are currently doing and will continue to do in the long run.
As Bai Jingting said, 'Even if disconnected from me as a person, consumers still recognize it. Many people will still like it and think it looks good. That is my ultimate goal.'
