Shanghai leads nation, Asia in 'first-store economy' race

Henkel's hairdressing class

On April 20, Henkel officially opened its first Vidal Sassoon Beauty training center for hairdressers — the first for the company in Asia — in Shanghai's Yangpu district, welcoming 24 students. The center's certification system is aligned with its London headquarters, allowing graduates to earn internationally recognized qualifications alongside China's nationally recognized vocational certification.

Rather than introducing a new product or retail concept, Vidal Sassoon Beauty chose to make its debut in China through professional training and talent development. By bringing its globally recognized salon education system, cutting techniques and haircare expertise to China, the company hopes to establish a new benchmark for education in the sector.

"Our goal is not to train a generation of imitators, but to nurture creators who can engage with the world on equal footing and enable Chinese hairstylists to develop their own voice on the global stage," said Pan Yun, general manager of Henkel Consumer Brands Professional in China, a business unit of German-based Henkel.

Founded in London in 1954, Vidal Sassoon entered the Chinese market in 1997. In 2024, Henkel's consumer brands business assumed full operational responsibility for the Vidal Sassoon brand in China. Throughout its history, the brand has continued to shape industry trends while inspiring new generations of hairstylists.

Since 2018, Shanghai has attracted a total of 8,472 first stores of various levels, including 1,093 in 2025 alone. Among the first stores opened last year across the city, 16.8 percent are Asia-first or global-first stores, according to the debut economy development report, the first of its kind to provide a systematic analysis of practices and policies related to the debut economy.

According to Helmlinger, the lesson for other cities is not simply to replicate Shanghai's policies, but to understand the underlying principles, which are: supporting innovation, reducing friction for investors, investing in the quality of the physical environment, and trusting that world-class brands will follow. "Shanghai has proved that model works," he said.

wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn