Xian Guansheng, the owner of Guanshengyuan, was originally a hawker who set up a stall in front of a theater in Nanshi, selling snacks such as tangerine peel plums, plum plums, and beef jerky. Later, he partnered with others to open a small workshop called Guanshengyuan, and set up a small shop in the theater. Due to the high quality of homemade food, the business gradually developed. In 1922, Guanshengyuan moved to Nanjing Road. There was a food sales department and a Western restaurant on the ground floor, and a catering department on the second floor to provide wine, food and refreshments.
"At the east end of Xinqiao on Main Street West in the French Concession, a restaurant was added upstairs to the second branch of Guanshengyuan. Following the method of the restaurant in the main store, Cantonese refreshments and economical snacks are produced and sold. Guanshengyuan The second branch of the restaurant, Tianpijiao Food Department, reported the 16th edition on October 31, 1931."
“The catering department of the Guanshengyuan Main Store on Nanjing Road in this city, at the invitation of the nearby city chamber of commerce and the Chinese goods store, organized a branch on the second floor of the store to prepare Western-style meals using Chinese raw materials. 1932.10. In the 12th and 16th edition, Guanshengyuan City Chamber of Commerce set up a separate catering department.”
After that, Guanshengyuan opened a farm and food factory in Caohejing, five branches and some distribution offices in the urban area, and also opened in Chongqing and other places. Guanshengyuan branches have been opened in Nanjing, Hangzhou, Kunming, Hankou and other places, and there are 17 branches nationwide.
"There are already two branches of Guanshengyuan Food Company in this city. In recent years, in view of the increasing prosperity of the Xiaodongmen area of ??Nan City, there is a tendency to compete with Bei City. 1932.01.08 In the 15th edition of the application, Guanshengyuan opened another branch. "
"Our local Guanshengyuan Food Co., Ltd. and our local branch have three branches in the Ximen area of ??Nanshi. Guanshengyuan opened a fourth branch on August 2, 1932. At that time, Guanshengyuan Shanghai Head Office had hundreds of employees, producing candies, Products such as pastries, moon cakes, tangerine peel plums, plums, beef jerky, jam, juice, cured meats, honey, etc. are very popular among consumers. It is also relatively flexible in operations, such as ordering by phone, door-to-door delivery, and selling matching gifts and pastries according to the season. At the same time, suburban farms are opened every Saturday and Sunday for people to enjoy the scenery, provide wine, food, refreshments, and promote Guanshengyuan food to attract business.
The business scale of Guanshengyuan continues to expand, but Xian Guansheng has always lived a frugal life. This big boss, who was fully capable of taking a car at the time, only took a rickshaw every day. However, when the August 13th Incident broke out in 1937, it was Xian Guansheng, the thrifty owner of Guanshengyuan who only rode a rickshaw, who donated a large amount of food to reward the anti-Japanese soldiers who fought bloody battles. General Feng Yuxiang specially wrote the words "Modern Xian Gao" and gave it to Xian Guansheng to encourage his patriotism. But before, when he put forward the slogan of "food to save the country" in the early 1930s, he was ridiculed by people at the time.
After the fall of Shanghai, Xian Guansheng moved his factories to Chongqing, Guiyang and other places to continue production. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he moved back to Shanghai. By 1949, Guanshengyuan had 37 branches across the country and had developed into the largest food company in China at that time.
In the early days of liberation, Guanshengyuan suffered a serious loss of customers and a decline in business. The farm was closed first, and the branches and distribution offices also shrank accordingly. Under the care and arrangement of the government and through labor negotiations, the business basically maintained its annual growth rate. production and sales. After the public-private partnership in 1956, Guanshengyuan Food Factory was transferred to the Food Industry Company, the catering department was transferred to the Catering Service Company, and the bottom-level sales department was transferred to the Tobacco and Sugar Company and changed to a comprehensive food store. During the Cultural Revolution, Guanshengyuan was renamed Shanghai Food Store, and the original name was restored in 1977.
Judging from the development history of Guanshengyuan, all companies should consider such issues:
First, companies must create their own brands. Intellectual property experts believe that the exclusive right to trademark is a sharp tool for corporate competition. If you want to protect the reputation of an enterprise from being infringed, you must have an independent corporate name, that is, the exclusive right to trademark.
Secondly, solving the "historical legacy" issues is on the agenda. Relevant experts believe that the "Guanshengyuan Incident" is a challenge to the current enterprise name registration system. For a long time, Chinese enterprises have not only belonged to a certain local government or a certain department in terms of property rights, but also in concept. Therefore, there has also been a large degree of "fragmentation" in corporate names; another situation is that some enterprises Like to "free ride" on "time-honored brands". With the continuous development of the socialist market economy, the issue of the exclusive rights of corporate names has become more and more prominent, which must be resolved by the relevant state departments as a whole.
Third, we must not be lenient in rectifying the market economic order. Only by creating its own brand and maintaining its own credibility can an enterprise win over consumers, win the market, and develop and grow.