SALEWA, a world-renowned German mountaineering and outdoor brand with a 77-year history, has been committed to product R&D and technological innovation since its founding in Munich, Germany, in 1935. Many of its products have become industry benchmarks for lightweight design, quickly establishing the brand as an innovator in climbing gear and a dominant force in the mountaineering and adventure market. In the early 1980s, SALEWA’s sales network had already expanded across multiple countries and regions in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania, making it one of the fastest-growing professional outdoor brands at the time. “Half the weight, double the strength” — this is SALEWA’s consistent pursuit of product quality. Product innovation and quality management have always been the brand’s winning strategies for attracting more outdoor enthusiasts. The brand’s hybrid nature allows its products to combine the strengths of its “parents” — the world-renowned top-tier German technology and cutting-edge Italian design at the forefront of fashion. For SALEWA, product quality isn’t just about technical and performance-related hard metrics; it also encompasses how to convey friendship and dreams, the freedom of connecting with nature, and the passion found in the mountains. Through real adventure stories, co-designing products with renowned athletes, seasonal events such as ROCKSHOW, Argentine Soul Journeys, and Journeys on the Eagle’s Back, the brand brings people into its emotional world.
What does freedom weigh? It feels like soaring with a winged eagle, surrounded by boundless freedom. No matter where in the world you are, SALEWA’s R&D team combines the experiences of professional athletes exploring the harshest extremes on Earth with the best and latest fabrics and technologies to develop fully reliable all-weather, full-range functional products that offer explorers the safest and most comfortable protection. SALEWA is almost the most comprehensive outdoor brand in terms of product lines. Its offerings range from children to adults, from head to toe, inside out, covering nearly every outdoor activity. Categorized by professionalism and leisure, the products are divided into five major series: alpineXtrem pro (professional extreme mountaineering series), Mountaineering (all-around trekking and mountaineering series), Trekking & Hiking (light and heavy-duty trekking series), Alpine Life & Outdoor (mountain lifestyle and outdoor leisure series), and Climbing (climbing series).
As an emerging force in China’s outdoor products market, Mr. Robson, Business Development Director of SALEWA Asia, gave an exclusive interview to this publication.
Robson: The SALEWA brand is a world-renowned German mountaineering and outdoor brand with a 77-year history. We follow a premium positioning strategy, which suits the 18–50 age group. The newly opened flagship store in Shanghai currently displays over 150 product models. Currently, the best-performing regions for SALEWA in China are Beijing, Shanghai, and Shandong. Within this year, we will increase our number of stores in high-end venues such as Parkson on Huaihai Road in Shanghai to eight. It can be said that SALEWA is currently experiencing very strong momentum in its development in China.
R: There are differences. Street-front shops usually have more space, allowing us greater flexibility in categorizing different products. For instance, the shoe section and backpack wall at the Wanti Stadium store are both very large, which isn’t possible in department stores. The entire shop features five independent wall color schemes, while department stores typically only manage two to three. Since entering China last year, SALEWA has developed a separate display plan tailored specifically for the Chinese market. The store image you see at the Parkson on Huaihai Road is different from this one.
R: Everyone has different aesthetics — you can’t make everyone like or dislike a brand. Some well-known European and American brands on the market follow a more casual route, and are becoming increasingly so, but SALEWA has always maintained a premium, professional image, with fewer casual items and a larger proportion of functional, professional products.
Another aspect is operational capability. Not every brand can achieve a breakthrough. We’ve found excellent partners in Shanghai, and we’ll receive more market support, including assistance with retail outlets, enabling faster market penetration. Finding the right-sized and capable distributors is crucial. We don’t blindly pursue the number of stores; we prioritize quality.
R: A brand’s culture and essence take time to accumulate. At present, we promote and deepen the brand through market activities and sponsorships. We conduct targeted marketing campaigns for both the general public and professional groups — for example, hosting the Beijing Rock Climbing Festival, sponsoring mountain rescue teams, Peking University’s Mountain Eagle Society, and other public welfare and student mountaineering clubs. Recently, Travel Channel’s popular program 《Walker》 aired a series on cycling around Taiwan, where the lead actor, Taiwanese actor Zhang Shuhao, was fully equipped with SALEWA gear. Additionally, the adventure equipment used in the famous Travel Channel host Li Mu’s adventure series, as well as the gear for the National Geographic Channel, CCTV Education Channel, and Yunnan TV’s joint production “Dr. Brady Barr’s Animal Zero-Distance Adventure Summer Camp,” were exclusively sponsored by SALEWA. In June this year, we also invited outdoor enthusiasts via our official Weibo to visit SALEWA’s headquarters in Munich and the Bolzano region in northern Italy, tour the brand’s R&D center, and join our athletes in climbing and exploring the Dolomite Mountains. When we talk about product quality, it’s not just about technical and performance-related hard metrics — it also includes how we behave at the point of sale: how we present products, express our ideas about friendship, dreams, freedom in nature, and mountain passion. For SALEWA, bringing people into the brand’s emotional world through sharing real adventure stories, co-designed products with well-known athletes, and participating in outdoor activities such as SALEWA ROCKSHOW, Greenland expeditions, Rose Journeys, and Eagleback Adventures is a vital task. We are continuously and subtly integrating SALEWA’s history and brand culture into consumer consciousness, step by step touching consumers’ emotions.
R: Originally, we were the sole distributor for SALEWA in China. This year, we entered into a joint venture with the SALEWA brand headquarters. By the end of the year, we will become SALEWA Asia, forming a joint venture company for the Asian region. Therefore, this will benefit the brand’s development in China not just for 3–5 years, but for 10, even 20 years or more. SALEWA hopes to align what it presents in the Chinese market with its brand positioning in Europe. In addition to the currently fast-growing regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shandong, we will accelerate our presence in the northeastern provinces, Sichuan, and Jiangsu, establishing high-quality retail stores there within the next 1 to 1.5 years. Over the next 3 to 5 years, we aim to capture a 3% market share. The market is growing rapidly — over the past three years, growth was at 30%. Although the overall environment hasn’t been ideal this year, development remains very healthy, and we expect double-digit growth over the next two to three years.