Die Mittelklasse-Waschsalons in Shanghai sind in die Kälte geraten, und meine Millioneneuro-Investition ist dahin.

The hot hair and body care market hides investment traps targeting middle - class consumers.

With the brand vision of "being the advocate for the quality life of 100 million women", JolieJolie Hair Care (hereinafter referred to as "JolieJolie"), which emerged in 2019, opened more than 20 physical stores in major high - end shopping malls in Shanghai and once won numerous middle - class consumers.

After 6 years of establishment, this internet - famous hair and body care store has become a "nightmare" for many investors.

On July 24th, several investors reported to Time Finance that since 2020, more than 20 consumers, as store partners, invested different amounts ranging from 300,000 yuan to 2 million yuan in JolieJolie Hair Care stores and its parent company, Shanghai Zhuoli Club Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shanghai Zhuoli Club"), with a cumulative investment of over 10 million yuan. However, it's highly likely that these investments have gone down the drain.

On August 1st, 2024, the Xuhui Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau believed that the case of illegal absorption of public deposits by Shanghai Zhuoli Club met the conditions for criminal filing and decided to initiate an investigation. Recently, the police station of the Xuhui Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau responded to Time Finance, stating that the case is still under investigation and the specific progress is not convenient to disclose. On the same day, Time Finance called Yang Moumou and Ren Moumou, the main operators of JolieJolie Hair Care. As of press time, the calls were not answered.

Investors in JolieJolie Hair Care said they never imagined that the bustling high - end hair and body care business was actually an investment scam. They detailed their investment experiences to Time Finance.

A middle - class hair care store opened by a "second - generation rich who doesn't want to idle away"

"A second - generation rich who doesn't want to idle away, with a wealthy family that can back up her entrepreneurship..." Many investors told Time Finance that in their daily interactions, Yang Moumou would intentionally or unintentionally present such an image and invite them to her villa in Qingpu, Shanghai.

The brand's franchise manual also mentioned that the main operator "grew up with natural essential oils and aromatherapy thanks to family influence" and thus founded the JolieJolie brand.

"During the visit to her villa, her 'parents' were also there. When talking about their daughter's entrepreneurship, they vaguely said they let her do as she pleased, giving the impression that they had invested a lot of their wealth and could support her in case of temporary business difficulties. Later, we found it was a trick because every partner was arranged like this," one investor told Time Finance.

Most investors were initially consumers of JolieJolie.

Chen Lin was originally a regular customer of the brand. "My wife is a member and has been consuming at JolieJolie for a long time, more than once a week. The experience as a consumer was quite good."

The trust in the investment project was thus established. According to many investors, JolieJolie stores always posted promotional materials recruiting partners. Many people had the idea of investing after seeing these materials. Meanwhile, store clerks would also promote franchise investment information to regular customers. Investor Huang Li learned that if a JolieJolie clerk successfully promoted and recruited a new customer who became a store partner, the clerk would get a commission.

At first, investor Chen Lin was hesitant about this investment. "After all, it's a stranger, and I had to take out a large sum of money. But since my family was a regular member of the store, it added some trust. After talking with the brand's main operator and calculating the so - called business model, we believed it was a profitable business. So I decided to invest 300,000 yuan first as a trial and add more if it went well." When Chen Lin invested in September 2023, JolieJolie had opened nearly 20 stores in Shanghai.

According to the contract information provided by investors, the main operator of JolieJolie Hair Care promised that store partners only needed to contribute 70% of the cost of opening a new store or upgrading an old one. Without participating in the daily operation and management of the store, they could enjoy 70% of the store's profit share.

The contract signed between the investor and JolieJolie. Photo provided by the interviewee.

The high - return store model attracted the investors. According to the brand's franchise manual, among the 18 JolieJolie stores in Shanghai, each store has a standard operating area of 50 square meters, an initial investment of 400,000 yuan, a pay - back period of only 6 - 10 months, a monthly income of 150,000 yuan, and a maximum monthly floor efficiency of 8,000 yuan per square meter. The overall net profit margin of the 18 stores reached 26.3%.

The carefully packaged business model and the future store expansion plan became the key to attracting investors. Investing in JolieJolie Hair Care seemed like a "profitable business with little investment".

According to investors, more than 20 investors in JolieJolie Hair Care invested over 10 million yuan in total.

All stores closed overnight, and over 10 million yuan of investment may go "to zero"

The popularity of JolieJolie Hair Care as an internet - famous hair and body care brand in Shanghai was related to its delicate service and channel layout.

Focusing on Shanghai as the core market, JolieJolie stores are all located in high - end commercial areas, including Grand Gateway 66, BFC Bund Finance Center, and Crystal Plaza in the former beach area. Many middle - class consumers paid and bought membership cards. At its peak, it had more than 20 direct - operated stores in Shanghai, targeting middle - and high - income women. The 45 - minute scalp and hair cleaning service cost 256 yuan per session, and a 24 - session package cost 2,280 yuan.

The image of JolieJolie store. Photo source: Brand franchise manual

However, before investors could taste the fruits of profit, JolieJolie collapsed completely in 2024.

In July 2024, investors in JolieJolie found that the financial statements they received contained the name of another investor, but they were not informed by the brand. After verification, it was found that there were multiple investors holding 70% equity in the same store, that is, "one store was sold multiple times", and the financial statements of the same store received by different investors varied greatly. Investors immediately reported the case to the police.

In the same month, many media reported that JolieJolie Hair Care suddenly removed the 69 - yuan basic service. Employees revealed that they hadn't received their salaries for three months, and some stores were in arrears of rent and utilities. At the end of July, all 20 JolieJolie Hair Care stores in Shanghai closed, and the mini - program stopped working.

On August 21st, 2024, the official account of JolieJolie Hair Care released a compensation plan for members. The brand's main operator said that the store closure was due to operational difficulties and expressed deep apologies. The brand also said that due to financial problems, it was temporarily unable to refund money, and the rights and interests of existing members would be taken over by a cooperative beauty brand.

Photo source: Official account of JolieJolie Hair Care

Investors told Time Finance that JolieJolie concealed key facts during the process of recruiting partners. Huang Li said that she had invested about 2.25 million yuan in JolieJolie. She told Time Finance that before the recruitment, all the brand's stores were actually in a loss state, but the brand made false statements, claiming that the stores were highly profitable. "It was to fill the hole of store losses."

According to investors, the fact of "one store being sold multiple times" was concealed until the brand's fraud was fully exposed. The main operator signed investment agreements with different investors respectively, agreeing on different profit - sharing ratios such as 30% or 70%, which actually meant selling the rights and interests of the same store multiple times.

Even before the full exposure of JolieJolie's scam, this investment project was not as good as expected. Most investors said they never received the promised profit share from the main operator.

Wang Peng, who invested 700,000 yuan, recalled, "The store I invested in opened in mid - December 2020. Then the pandemic hit, and they (the main operators) always told me the store was in a loss, so there was no profit share. By February and March 2023, they said the business was improving. But they needed to make up for the previous losses, and another half - year passed."

After that, even when the store got a profit statement, Wang Peng still didn't get the profit share. "In September 2023, they said there was a profit and could start quarterly profit - sharing. I got 10,000 yuan. The profit share for October - December was not settled until February 2024, and it was around the Spring Festival. They said they needed to pay bonuses to employees and the settlement would be postponed. I thought it was normal for business to fluctuate, and I'm not unreasonable. In theory, I should have got 70,000 - 80,000 yuan."

Unexpectedly, around January 2024, 70% of the equity of the store he invested in was sold to another investor for 700,000 yuan. Wang Peng believed that Yang Moumou transferred the profit share and performance that should have belonged to him to the later investor through another set of statements.

Zhang Qiang, who invested 1 million yuan in Shanghai Zhuoli Club in 2021, also said he never received a profit share. The main operator often used reasons such as poor initial store operation and the need for capital turnover to prevaricate. "So far, we still don't know why the store lost so much money and where exactly the losses were. This obviously goes against common sense."

On August 1st, 2024, the Xuhui Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau believed that the case of illegal absorption of public deposits by Shanghai Zhuoli Club met the conditions for criminal filing and decided to initiate an investigation. On July 25th, 2025, the police station of the Xuhui Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau responded to Time Finance, stating that the case is still under investigation and the specific progress is not convenient to disclose.

Yang Huajun, a lawyer from Henan Shenwei Law Firm, believes that as a type of crime with the highest frequency and greatest difficulty in handling the disposal of involved property, it is difficult to recover funds in illegal fund - raising cases. Since investors aim for profit, they are prone to speculation and may end up losing all their money. At the same time, he also pointed out the difficulty in determining the nature of the case and suggested that judicial organs intervene in advance to help with the determination.

The consumer market is booming, and new consumer brands are emerging like mushrooms after rain, attracting the attention of many investors and franchisees. However, franchise investment scams occur from time to time. Regarding such investment risks, Wang Xuetang, the deputy director of the Administrative Committee of the Guangdong Lawyers Association, reminds investors to make decisions carefully. Before investing, they should conduct a detailed investigation into the company's background and actual operating conditions. When it comes to large - scale capital investment, it is necessary to consult professionals such as lawyers and financial advisors.

Yang Huajun pointed out that investors should carefully choose compliant and high - quality projects. Don't blindly invest based on the opinions of so - called "financial experts", unlicensed "lawyers", and "industry experts". Keep evidence such as chat records, emails, and correspondence during transactions, and important documents can be notarized in advance. If a dispute occurs, apply for property preservation in time and stop losses through mediation, litigation, or arbitration.

(At the request of the interviewees, Chen Lin, Huang Li, Wang Peng, and Zhang Qiang are all aliases)

This article is from the WeChat official account "No. 19 Business Research Club". Author: Wu Jiamin, Editors: Zhou Jiabao, Li Qian. Republished by 36Kr with permission.