Bai Jingting's GOODBAI Business: Store Expansion and Collaboration Strategy

Recently, a giant fence rose along Yanqing Lane in Shanghai for brand GOODEES WORLD. It's the national first store of the sub-line under brand GOODBAI, managed by well-known actor Bai Jingting. Nearby are his coffee shop, clothing store, and 24-hour vending machine. Two months ago, GOODBAI also opened a pop-up space here, with Bai Jingting's giant poster attracting countless visitors. Yanqing Road is thus nicknamed "Bai Jingting Pain Street." Many celebrities start brands, but in terms of business ecosystem, channel building, and expansion pace, Bai Jingting is arguably one of the best celebrity entrepreneurs in Chinese entertainment.

The five-bay villa on Yanqing Lane is GOODBAI's first physical store nationwide. The brand was founded in 2021 by Bai Jingting as a clothing and lifestyle brand. When it opened in 2023, it caused long queues and scalpers; some waited nearly 7 hours. Even three years later, on a normal weekday afternoon, the store was still crowded with customers shopping, trying on, and taking photos.

The store design is vintage and simple, with white dove (Bai Jingting fan reference) elements everywhere. GOODBAI covers clothing, shoes, hats, bags, accessories. Compared to other celebrity streetwear, pricing is not too high: 39-2,900 RMB. T-shirts mostly 199 RMB, shoes 159-799 RMB, canvas bags, hats, jewelry mostly tens to 200-300 RMB. GOODBAI's most popular product is the Wandering Shoe (459 RMB), ranked 9th on Tmall sports casual shoe repurchase list, with names ahead including Adidas, FILA, Anta, Asics, Xtep—showing GOODBAI's influence.

GOODEES WORLD, soon to open its first store, also has a dedicated section in the existing store. This sub-line originates from an original IP—the fluff ball image on the fence. Different from main brand GOODBAI's sporty casual style, GOODEES WORLD positions as "cute, warm, healing," offering shoes, phone cases, plush keychains, hair accessories. On Tmall flagship store, its 129 RMB zodiac plush keychain sold over 7,000 units; the 99 RMB baseball cap keychain in the Yanqing Road vending machine is sold out. Since inception, GOODBAI and its sub-lines have collaborated with many brands: Salomon, Diptyque, New Era, Levi's, BABY-G, Holiland, Line Friends Minini, etc.—covering trending mid-class favorites, national brands, streetwear brands, a wide range.

Besides footwear and IP derivatives, Bai's business also includes coffee and bakery. GOODBAI's Yanqing Road store isn't far from Bai's coffee shop; coffee priced 28-48 RMB, similar to other Shanghai specialty coffee shops. In 2024, a "GOODEES Great Satisfaction" small cookie (two pieces for 21 RMB) caused online controversy.

Outside Yanqing Road, GOODBAI has opened two more physical stores in Chengdu and Aranya, and pop-up/slow stores in Beijing, Paris, Seoul. Apart from own online/offline channels, GOODBAI also entered some multi-brand stores like Musinsa (known as "Korea Uniqlo"). From selling clothes, coffee to IP products, Bai Jingting is building a complete consumption ecosystem around young people's lifestyle.

Why Celebrity Brands Succeed: Traffic and Channel Strategy

Many celebrities start brands. Edison Chen has CLOT, Jackson Wang has TEAM WANG, Daniel Wu sells coffee, Hua Chenyu launched his own daily chemical brand. Why are celebrities keen on self-branding? Bai Jingting said in an interview with Bazaar Men that Maugham compared fame to being given a string of pearls; he often thinks, "Can I find another string of pearls?" GOODBAI is his second string for security. Celebrity brands have natural traffic advantages, and their rise mirrors that of emerging fashion brands: social media seeding, pop-up store testing, flagship opening in core commercial areas. Plus, celebrities and their friends are walking seeders—many celebrities wore GOODBAI in public.

But celebrity brands often face "milking fans" controversy or fade away. Also, deep association with a celebrity brings high risk of one glory, one loss.

Public Opinion and Quality Risk: Notices, Recall, and Rectification

GOODBAI also faced negative publicity over product quality. In 2024, Shanghai market regulator reported one of its denim jackets had pH value not meeting national mandatory standards. In 2025, a 599 RMB hoodie was exposed for print peeling, with back pattern imprinting on car seats. After the incident, the company issued apology, announced recall of affected batches, and promised rectification.

Notably, GOODBAI's associated company Zhentinghao (Shanghai) Brand Management Co. is owned 41% by Bai Jingting, 29% by designer Shangguan Zhe, and 10% by Li Yong. Designer Shangguan's brand has appeared at London Fashion Week; Li Yong also has years of apparel experience. So Bai entered the apparel business with industry insiders, providing professional support in design, production, and supply chain.

From Sports Casual to Outdoor: Product Line Expansion and Collaboration Ecosystem

Bai Jingting is known as "sneaker king" in entertainment, loves many sports, and is brand ambassador for New Era, Salomon, etc. As sports needs become more segmented and diverse, GOODBAI has developed sub-series for soccer (916 express) and tennis (polomove). Besides GOODBAI (sports casual), Bai's associated companies also own teenteens (targeting young women), women's fashion brand Ayrae, and trendy outdoor brand 30C. For example, 30C entered the outdoor trend segment with a style angle, fitting current consumption preferences and its design strengths. 30C has already opened a store on Xiaohongshu; Bai's same-style vest sold out in many sizes.

From sports casual hit shoes, trending IP plush toys, to outdoor segments, Bai Jingting's steps essentially follow trends. In this sense, Bai's business success relies on far more than luck and traffic. Looking at the series of collaborations, some brands already cooperated with Bai as an artist. The biggest fear for celebrity brands is becoming just artist merchandise. How to move beyond fan economy to a broader market is what Bai's brands are doing now and in the long term. As Bai said: "Even without me as a person, consumers should still recognize and like, think it's good-looking—that's my ultimate goal."