Brand Background & Local Operating Structure

HELLY HANSEN (HH) is an outdoor brand founded in Norway in 1877, known for its sailing waterproof gear and professional ski apparel. In 2021, HH formed a joint venture with Youngor Group — Helly Hansen Anli (Shanghai) Commercial Management Co., Ltd. — with Youngor exclusively handling brand operations and production across Greater China. In February 2025, U.S.-based Kontoor Brands acquired the global HH brand outright. Youngor stated clearly that the deal would not affect the China joint venture's operations and that it would continue to develop HH's China business alongside the new shareholder.

Within the Youngor ecosystem, HH sits as the high-end outdoor piece of its seven-brand matrix, operated independently from its Shanghai headquarters while sharing group channel and supply chain resources with flagship YOUNGOR, plus MAYOR, BONPOINT, and others. As of 2024, HH China had opened 58 specialty stores across 30 cities nationwide, growing to 84 stores in 2025, covering premium malls and ski resorts. Youngor's 2025 financial report noted that the multi-brand segment including HH achieved relatively fast revenue growth and improved operating quality.

1. HH's China Growth Goals & Business Challenges

Youngor's strategic positioning for HH China is to leverage local manufacturing and channel networks to translate a century-old sailing and skiing heritage into a high-end lifestyle brand spanning light outdoor. Specifically, achieving this goal requires solving three things:

1.1 Scaling Channel Operations

HH China's stores grew from an initial 14 in 2021 to 84 in 2025, coordinating multiple stores with official platforms including Tmall, requiring real-time synchronization of inventory and shipping instructions.

1.2 Brand Trust & Channel Control

HH China enforces a strict after-sales policy — only recognizing products from official channels. In September 2024, it issued a statement cracking down on counterfeit and infringing products, requiring a trusted data carrier to distinguish genuine goods from diverted inventory. At the same time, it is exploring digital product passports and end-to-end traceability to address textile transparency and circularity demands.

1.3 Fulfillment & Stocktaking Efficiency

With frequent new product launches, the original barcode solution struggles to coordinate multiple systems, and warehouse and store operations still need to further compress receiving, shipping, and stocktaking time.

2. Century Lead's RFID Solution Path

As an RFID digital intelligence solutions provider for the fashion industry, Century Lead delivers capabilities that map directly to the challenges above:

On the scaling operations side
Deploying RFID tunnel machines enables bulk reading of full cartons — processing over 600 cartons per hour, roughly 3x efficiency gains. The system automatically reconciles orders against physical goods with accuracy exceeding 99.9%. National inventory data syncs in real time, and urgent orders are automatically matched to the nearest stocked warehouse, supporting multi-warehouse collaboration.

On the trust and control side
RFID tags combined with QR codes and other digital identifiers can extend HH's existing hangtag scanning logic, enabling full traceability from factory to store. Counterfeits struggle to slip through, and diverted inventory can be spotted promptly — directly answering HH China's needs for authenticity verification and channel cleanup.

On the fulfillment efficiency side
RFID handheld devices replace manual store verification, cutting single-item searches to within minutes and reducing time spent hunting down discrepancies. Warehouse receiving efficiency increases 5x, and stocktaking labor costs drop.

3. Conclusion

Under Youngor's leadership, HH continues to expand its China market share, growing through product and scenario innovation. With RFID digital intelligence solutions, Century Lead provides stable support across warehousing, distribution, stores, and traceability — accompanying the brand in maintaining operational precision throughout its expansion phase.