Xu Xin responded for the first time to "Too comprehensive": Entrepreneurship aims to create the lululemon in the table tennis world.
Cover
This is the second year that Xu Xin has been his own boss. This athlete, who has won multiple world championships in table tennis, has a new identity - The founder of the table tennis lifestyle brand Xuperman - after opening his own table tennis hall and café. During this year's Olympic Games, Xu Xin's live-streaming of table tennis matches became popular, making Xuperman even more popular, and the entire online store was once sold out.
From an athlete to an entrepreneur, Xu Xin has applied his athlete's instincts to the business world, with a desire to win, and a sense of normalcy towards "becoming popular" and "facing setbacks". More importantly, as an athlete who was not so "conventional" originally, The "playfulness" and "sense of humor" that he had once suppressed finally have a place to be used.
This time, "Tide" had a chat with Xu Xin and his team about a brand entrepreneurship that starts from scratch and continuously upgrades.
"Don't Want to Follow the Crowd"
As soon as you enter, the aroma of coffee wafts over. If you hadn't come to Xuperman's table tennis hall in person, you wouldn't have associated the competitive sport of table tennis with the coffee lifestyle.
On a Wednesday in September, I came to The Xuperman Space located on the east side of Shanghai Pudong Football Stadium, which covers an area of 1,200 square meters. Half of the spacious area is a table tennis hall with the sign "Xu Xin Sports XUPERMAN SPORTS", and the other half is a coffee space with the sign "XUPERMAN CAFE".
Exterior of Xuperman Space
The gray venue, black-bottomed and white-edged tables, abandon the traditional color combination of red flooring and blue tables in indoor table tennis halls. Multiple linear fluorescent tubes with a simple design. Unlike the common cramped indoor table tennis halls, this place is large enough to run in.
On the other side separated by glass windows is a bright coffee shop with a wood-toned color scheme. Graffiti figures that replicate Xu Xin's classic playing actions appear on the wall from time to time. The space is divided into different areas. You can watch others play through the glass in the stepped viewing area, rest and chat in the coffee area, buy peripheral products in the product display area, or simply practice on the Mini table tennis table. Although it is called a café, It is actually more like a table tennis experience hall themed around Xu Xin himself.
Interior of Xuperman Table Tennis Hall
Interior of Xuperman Coffee Space
"I just want to do something different from others." Xu Xin said to me in the Xuperman office in the same venue. That day, he was wearing a well-fitting black sports T-shirt and shorts, still in an athlete's style.
In February 2023, Xu Xin, a professional table tennis player, along with his wife Yao Yan, who is also an athlete, and his childhood friend Xu Chengbo, jointly founded the brand Xuperman, and its table tennis hall and café were officially opened to the public. Seven months later, Xuperman's clothing and peripherals were launched on the e-commerce platform, making Xuperman a comprehensive lifestyle brand that integrates offline table tennis halls, cafés, professional equipment, and clothing peripherals.
"Not wanting to follow the crowd" has almost influenced Xu Xin's choices in many things, including his decision to start a business.
The idea of opening a table tennis hall emerged in early 2022. The previous year, he had just finished the Tokyo Olympics, where he won the gold medal in the men's team table tennis and the silver medal in the mixed doubles. Up to that point, he had already won 20 world championships in table tennis. At the age of 32, it was time to consider what to do next.
Should he become a coach? Xu Xin's coach suggested it to him, or he could return to the system to do administrative work. Most athletes make such choices. Xu Xin's thought was, "I have made up my mind that when the day comes that I stop playing, I will definitely not take the path that everyone has planned for me."
This professional table tennis player has long been eager to do something new outside his sports career.
Xu Xin Poster
Start with the table tennis hall and offline training that he is familiar with. He found the architect Long Pei introduced by a friend, who has designed many domestic and international living spaces such as the An Ko Rau store on Anfu Road in Shanghai.
The first thing they considered was to Create a lifestyle-oriented space that contrasts with the competitive sports stadium to keep people.
Table tennis has always been a traditional Chinese sports event. People are almost used to functional table tennis venues, either a cramped table tennis room in the community basement or an open space in the community with a table tennis table.
When the space is combined with coffee and trendy peripherals, it is determined that Xuperman is no longer a simple functional table tennis hall, But has entered a lifestyle track that competes in creativity and concepts.
The café and the table tennis hall are connected by transparent glass
The café and the table tennis hall are connected by transparent glass
Xu Xin has always had this idea, "Yoga now has a lifestyle brand, and many sports have a lifestyle, but table tennis doesn't. Lululemon can squeeze such a large space from such a niche track as yoga. Table tennis is the national sport of China. Why can't we make it?"
They began to intentionally weaken the competitiveness of table tennis. An interesting detail is that there are no photos or trophies of Xu Xin winning world championships or Olympic championships in the hall. Trophies and photos show strength and weakness, winning and losing, and they don't want these.
Naturally, the novel design also means several times the cost of an ordinary table tennis hall. Since the establishment of Xuperman, Xu Xin has invested several million yuan himself, and most of the money has been spent on the preliminary design and decoration.
When it comes to these, both Xu Xin and Yao Yan think that the money is well spent. Because they have bet on the right direction. The relaxed and trendy design style has attracted young people in the city to come and check in. The check-in photos were posted online, And after the secondary dissemination, even more people came to the coffee space than the table tennis hall.
Less than half a year after the opening of the space, there are already no less than ten imitators across the country. In Xu Xin's view, "We are being imitated by others, indicating that others are following our path. Our path must be the right one."
"Cheeky, That's Him!"
There is no doubt that Xu Xin himself is the soul of Xuperman.
This can be seen from the brand logo - the English spelling of Xuperman, in which the capital letter X is replaced by a classic action of Xu Xin hitting the ball behind his back.
Xuperman Logo
Xu Xin's Classic Backhand Shot
When they first thought of the name, Xu Xin and Yao Yan thought of Xuperman, Thinking that it is "more international". The nickname Xuperman and the action of "hitting the ball behind the back" come from Xu Xin's men's singles final in the 2020 German Open.
When he was leading 14:13 in the first game, Xu Xin used a highly difficult backhand shot to return the ball to the table. The ITTF commentator Adam Bobrow was very excited and praised Xu Xin as "Xuper man", Meaning that Xu Xin's performance on the table tennis court is like that of a superman. Eventually, Xu Xin won the game.
Xuperman combines the backhand shot, a "name with a story", and the entire team is very satisfied. It is both serious and fun, and the brand's temperament is there.
Having a name is just the beginning. Next is to design the graffiti version of Xu Xin's cartoon. Now you can see these Xu Xin images with a smirk on the walls of the venue and various Xuperman peripherals.
Xu Xin's Graffiti Paintings Can Be Seen Everywhere in the Coffee Space
Designing these IP cartoons took a lot of effort. After all, it is a table tennis hall opened by a world champion, with professional standard facilities, and it still needs to have a sense of seriousness, but at the same time, it also needs to be approachable. The first few versions of the image designed by Yao Yan didn't feel right, and she couldn't find the balance between the two feelings.
Until one day, Yao Yan went to the design studio to check the details. As soon as she entered the door, she found the latest version of the cartoon based on Xu Xin pasted on the wall, each derived from Xu Xin's signature actions.
One of them, with his hands behind his back and his upper body naked, is another "famous scene" of Xu Xin: In a table tennis classroom of a certain school, there was a ban that "It is forbidden to be naked in the table tennis hall", and the accompanying picture happened to be a photo of Xu Xin training in the national table tennis team with his upper body bare.
Xu Xin IP Graffiti Posted on the Wall Opposite the Toilet
"That's him." Yao Yan suddenly felt that this is the image of her husband, Brother Xin. "Distinct and interesting. In Shanghainese, it's called 'fresh and lively', and in Mandarin, it's a bit cheeky."
Later, this "cheeky" "No Bare Chest" cartoon was pasted on the wall opposite the toilet in Xuperman, becoming a key photo object for those who come to check in.
Xu Xin is always full of humor on the Internet. I asked Yao Yan if he is also like this in life. She said, "I can't really say. Anyway, he is quite funny. Because there may be too many funny things every day, so I can't remember which specific thing is particularly funny."