At the 3rd Asia Outdoor Trade Fair in Nanjing, I met Larry Tsui, President of White Sierra and Al Whitworth, Marketing Director of White Sierra. And very honored to interview with them. The following is the interview.

Larry (left) and AL Whitworth (right)

Could you please introduce the brand of White Sierra to the outdoor fans? Thank you!

Larry: White Sierra was founded at San Francisco Bay, California in 1979. The outdoor resource is very rich there, and the main characteristics there are outdoor sports, fashion, leisure and culture. After 30 years development, White Sierra has over 2,000 points of sales in the UAS and Canada. We make our products fashionable, which meet the young people’s demand. And we continue to dream, explore, and discover the outdoor sports with our way "Think Outside".

Your father found the brand of White Sierra in 1979 in USA. When he went to USA from China, he was more than 50 years old. From the foundation till now, there are some unforgettable stories, could you please tell us the unforgettable stories? Thank you! 

Larry: When my father arrived in USA, he found White Sierra, there were some process, and these process are very important for us. In 1979, White Sierra was registered in USA and Canada, White Sierra develops with the American outdoor development. In 1985, we discovered the ski was very popular in USA, so we expanded our outdoor products to offer ski apparel. In 1987, we discovered Spring/Summer collection and women’s collection. In 2002, we made our products more fashionable to meet the young outdoor fans’ need. They can wear White Sierra apparel to work, travel and relax in nature. In 2004, in order to protect our nature, we use the bamboo, hemp, recycled polyester and organic cotton materials in the apparel collection. And all these fabrics are earth friendly. In 2008, we officially launched in China, and we continue to dream, explore and discovery outdoor sports.

As a famous outdoor brand, how do you get success and the way to succeed? Thank you for sharing with us!

Al Whitworth: First, we are confident to develop our brand, and we also study to explore more. Second, we pay more attention to our customers’ feedback, and we discuss with our customers. Last, we have to know the latest trends, such as which one the customers like.

What about the White Sierra development in the USA? And the consumer group? The characteristics of the sale channels?

Al Whitworth: One customer group is the outdoor experts who know apparel very well, the other one is the outdoor fans. They can wear our casual outdoor clothes go to work in the city or go outside. Our products are sale mainly in the department store, sporting goods store and retailers. The department stores, such as REI, Bass Pro, Sport Chalet and so on. There are more than 2,000 points of sale channels in the USA and Canada till now.

What is the main characteristic of White Sierra? What is advantage?

Larry: The main character is the combination of function and fashion. When the customers look at our products at first sight, they feel our products are very fashionable. We just make our products fashionable on the base of function. And the advantage is we continue to explore and discover, develop with the outdoor development and meet the customers’ demand.

When does White Sierra decide to enter into Chinese oudoor market? How do you prepare for it? And what is your expectation? Thank you!

Larry: We prepared for entering Chinese outdoor market for 3 years. We set up our team to develop White Sierra and make the team localization. The Chinese outdoor market is very potential and more and more people focus on the outdoor market. Nowadays, the people bear some pressure and they want to go to nature and relax in the nature. We expect to further development our brand in China, therefore, the outdoor fans may feel our products’ function and fashion.

You visited some retailers in the main outdoor cities of China, what is your impression of the retailers? Is there any changement? And what is their feedback?

Larry: Nowadays, the outdoor retailers are very professional, they operate their stores very well, and they are outdoor fans. They try their best to run their outdoor stores. They said our products are very fashionable and bring the fashion into the outdoor products, the products are very comfortable and the design is very simple, which suit for the customers.

What is your opinion about the main difference between Chinese and American outdoor stores?

Larry: In America, the employees’ training is better, they focus on how to experience the outdoor sports. And they offer a full set of service, outdoor activities, equipment knowledge and outdoor skills. In this way, the outdoor fans and customers may know more outdoor knowledge.

I attended your new product Press conference and feel that your product is very fashionable and leisure, this kind of products will have a good performance in Chinese outdoor stores?

Larry: I just visited some outdoor stores in China, and I know that they are interested in our products. And the image of these outdoor stores are changing now, they can accept our products which are professional, fashionable and casual.

As we know, the shape and color between China and UAS is totally different, how do you deal with the problem?

Larry: We notice these differences, therefore, we found the product department and make this department localization. We design our products according to the Chinese shape and color. There is a Chinese designer in our design team. In this way, we can design the product which is more suitable for the Chinese people.

More White Sierra information, please visit www.whitesierra.com.