How did FILA become the standard for "elite sports" by turning its golf stores into gateways to a lifestyle?

When we frequently sigh that "even luxury goods can hardly survive the economic cycle," a concurrent question arises: where have the middle - class gone?

Nowadays, when you walk into Sanlitun in Beijing or Huaihai Road in Shanghai, it's not hard to notice that high - end sports brands are taking over the prime storefronts in core business districts with an unprecedented offensive. The trend is changing, and new signals are flashing - some sports that combine health, elegance, and a sunny disposition are becoming the lifestyle of choice for the elite to showcase their quality of life.

Golf is undoubtedly the "crown jewel" among them. The "2024 Hurun Report on the Brand Preferences of High - Net - Worth Individuals in China" shows that golf ranks among the top three sports favored by high - net - worth individuals. Moreover, users of this sport have a long participation cycle and high loyalty. Amid this rising trend, luxury brands and sports brands are rushing to enter the market, all vying to be the protagonist that rides the wave and seizes the dividends.

FILA is a "different" example in this regard.

Rather than simply following the trend, it is more like a "trend - setter." Since the 1970s, it has shown great attention and support to outstanding golf athletes. In recent years, it has also organized various golf tournaments in China. In 2022, it established the sub - brand "FILA GOLF," going beyond just product development for a single series and demonstrating its confidence through one golf specialty store after another.

Over the past decade, FILA has established itself deeply in people's minds as a "mid - to - high - end sports fashion brand," filling the gap between professionalism and fashion for domestic sports brands. It has achieved growth miracles time and again in the trend of the popularization and fashionization of sports. In the past two years, without people even realizing it, FILA has become the first "destination" that many consumers think of when looking for tennis or golf outfits.

On August 15th, the first store of FILA GOLF's new 3.5 - store format, "Master Club," opened in Suzhou. High - end services and scene - based retail have been more deeply integrated into the store, and FILA has once again completed self - innovation. From this new store, we can see FILA's redefinition of the retail space. It is a new window to observe FILA's in - depth penetration into the elite sports lifestyle and an external manifestation of a sports brand's focus on its core customer group and maintenance of its style.

Transform the Store into an Entrance to the Golf Lifestyle

In China, golf is undergoing a transformation from its traditional business and competitive attributes to a lifestyle and fashion style. This transformation has also spurred further innovation in the retail space.

In the past, golf equipment stores either focused on the functional display of professional equipment or became niche shelves in high - end shopping malls. However, FILA GOLF's stores are trying to break this boundary with more immersive scenes, products, and services that are closer to real needs.

FILA GOLF's new "Master Club" takes inspiration from the actual golfing scene and integrates the dual experiences of "on - the - course" and "off - the - course" into the store: Centering around the competitive nature of the "on - the - course" experience, using products as a medium, it extracts the pure sense of sports from the open, sunny, and focused competition on the golf course, emphasizing functionality, clarity, and vitality. At the same time, the store's space design presents the elegant off - course life, creating an elegant, private, social, and relaxing atmosphere like a golf clubhouse, emphasizing a sense of quality, comfort, and business - casual attributes.

It is reported that in terms of products, a complete three - dimensional combination of the three broad golf lifestyle scenarios of PIN high - end sports, PERFORMANCE professional sports, and ICONIC classic sports will be presented in this store. As a new store format for FILA GOLF, the store will also launch special products such as the new PIN series and the driving range series in the PERFORMANCE line.

Abundant products are, of course, one of the key factors in making a brand store attractive, but they are no longer the be - all and end - all of a store.

In the era of the experience economy, today's store space is no longer limited to a single functional area. Instead, it is more like a window, and visiting a store is the most direct way for people to understand a brand. FILA GOLF's differential advantage lies in breaking the traditional retail relationship and creating an ultimate experience and service for golf consumers through scene - based stores and diverse community experiences.

In the first "Master Club" store in Suzhou, from the moment customers enter the store, are received, are recommended products, to when they leave, it is hard for them to feel the "sales - driven" nature of the store staff. Instead, they are greeted with more natural and friendly service, reminiscent of luxury brand stores. Rather than just salespeople, the staff seem more like "golf image consultants" to customers, often chatting about dressing tips, swing techniques, love for sports, and life expectations, thus creating a relaxed social experience.

In fact, this is not FILA's first time opening a specialty store.

According to 36Kr, FILA established "FILA GOLF" as an independent sub - brand in 2022 and has been continuously opening specialty stores. As of now, FILA has opened 9 GOLF specialty stores, and this number will increase to 13 by the end of September. Moreover, the store formats are continuously upgrading and becoming more in - depth, and the ecological sense and spiritual connotation of the stores are also becoming richer during the continuous iteration process.

In an era of saturated consumption, the kind of "novelty" that only scratches the surface is no longer enough to move consumers. What FILA is doing is closely integrating the professional spirit and social culture of golf with the brand's DNA, transforming the store from a "product - selling place" to a "social place" and creating a unique high - end sports fashion retail environment.

On this path, it has almost no mature reference system. Every step it takes needs to start from an even more ultimate experience, consciously making itself the "pioneering model."

From Being Good at Opening Stores to Being Even Better at It

Iteration, opening new stores, iterating again, and opening more stores is actually a microcosm of FILA's channel innovation over the years.

Taking the golf field as an example, FILA's channel innovation is first reflected in "boldly cultivating the market and breaking down barriers." Nowadays, the trend of "golf becoming more accessible" is widely discussed, and "Golfcore" has become a fashion trend and lifestyle. Sports retail brands are also vying to follow this trend.

For niche and emerging sports, the experience is particularly important. Zhang Yi, the project director of ISPO Shanghai, mentioned in an interview with the media that "from the first experience to the advanced repurchase stage of players, (it is necessary to) stimulate enthusiasts' interest in the sports experience, raise their requirements for equipment and products, and finally gradually transform it into a lifestyle."

In order to allow more consumers to experience and fall in love with golf, FILA GOLF broke free from the conventional thinking early on in channel innovation and spared no expense in its investment. Opening experience stores, pioneering online channels such as live - streaming on Douyin, and trying influencer marketing - these tangible and perceptible measures have broken the elitist image of golf, allowing consumers to experience the charm of this sport at a low cost.

Even today, when looking at the store - opening actions, comprehensive brands' layouts in golf usually only involve a single series or a few shelves in their product lines. Few have established sub - brands and opened specialty stores. In addition, when opening independent golf stores, retail brands' layouts are almost all concentrated in niche and professional scenarios such as professional clubs and sports goods collection stores that are closer to the golf courses and have a more targeted customer base.

FILA shows optimism and determination in this regard. In addition to establishing a sub - brand and continuously opening specialty stores, it is worth noting that most of these stores are located in urban business districts, creating an urban golf interaction area for the growing number of enthusiasts and transforming this niche sport into a lifestyle accessible to the general public.

After pulling a "niche sport" into the mainstream, the second dimension of FILA's channel innovation lies in starting from consumers' most real needs and experiences, continuously iterating itself, and moving from "being good at opening stores" to "being even better at it," becoming the "most considerate choice."

Among sports brands, FILA has always been one of the brands that can attract customers with its stores and is regarded by many business property recruiters as a "traffic - attracting entrance." In terms of data, even though it is still in an "adjustment window period," FILA still achieved sales of 26.63 billion yuan in 2024 with 2,060 stores. In an era when retail brands are competing in terms of good products, popular items, and store efficiency, FILA remains an "outstanding student."

The newly opened "Master Club" store is a snapshot of FILA becoming "even better at opening stores." After the latest iteration, FILA GOLF's retail services have been comprehensively upgraded, and the shopping experience that exceeds expectations and is full of emotional value, as well as the sense of belonging for members, are almost fully perceptible.

On the one hand, the 3.5 - store format has elevated community operations to a new level, forming a three - dimensional activity matrix of "monthly + quarterly + annual." Monthly activities focus on popularizing the basics, such as golf etiquette classes and in - store putting experiences, which not only increase brand awareness but also turn more people with a general interest into potential future customers. Quarterly activities focus on the lifestyle aspect, including point - redemption special golf events and golf community salons. Annual activities are aimed at professional scenarios, such as organizing international tournament viewings, master classes, and the Black Platinum Members' Tournament, which drive the recognition, loyalty, and repurchase of professional consumers.

On the other hand, the all - around upgrade of the membership experience has further consolidated FILA GOLF's high - end positioning. FILA GOLF members can enjoy exclusive benefits at top domestic partner golf courses and chain driving ranges. The brand also provides opportunities to play with professional golfers. In terms of service details, the stores offer services such as professional cleaning and maintenance of golf shoes and trouser tailoring, upgrading the stores from "shopping places" to "golf lifestyle service centers."

Although the channel innovation and store formats are constantly changing, behind these changes there is an unchanging "center" - the middle - and upper - income groups who are actively pursuing a better life and full of vitality. This is the core brand identity that FILA has built over the years. Every adjustment at each stage of its development is also an early - stage insight into the needs of the middle - class elite, allowing it to respond flexibly.

Now when you go to various shopping malls, it is easy to find that FILA's store names have more specific suffixes, such as FILA FUSION, FILA ICONA, FILA GOLF, FILA KIDS, and the tennis - themed store Biella at the Shanghai West Bund Dream Factory.

As of now, FILA has four sub - brands: FILA, FILA FUSION, FILA KIDS, and FILA GOLF. On the overall basis of the FILA brand, the positioning of each store space has become clearer, and the segmented operation of each product category and customer group has been taken to the extreme.

The underlying logic is that with the rapid growth of the general sports market in China, the customer groups and circles of various sports are further taking shape. According to data from Guanyan Report Network, the market size of golf equipment in China is expected to exceed 4 billion yuan in 2025. The popularity of tennis is even higher. According to the latest survey results of the Tennis Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China in 2024, the number of tennis players in China is 25.19 million, a 28.03% increase compared to 2021. The "2024 Sports Consumption Report" also shows that the turnover of tennis clothing increased by 216% year - on - year, and the turnover of tennis bags increased by 37% year - on - year.

For FILA today, under the overall high - end image of the FILA brand, establishing sub - brands or opening more specialized stores can make the in - store experience in each segmented field more considerate and deepen the brand's penetration into consumers' minds.

Rooted in elite sports, FILA's channel innovation and experience creation have achieved visible results. After returning to the growth track in 2024, FILA achieved high - single - digit and mid - single - digit growth in the past two quarters respectively. During this year's 618 promotion, FILA topped the list of sports and outdoor categories on Tmall for the first time. At the Q2 2025 performance communication meeting, the management specifically mentioned that "the growth of the mental sports series such as golf and tennis is remarkable, indicating