Shenzhen Wenheyou opened，The queue has reached more than 40,000 numbers，Blocked a whole street。Today’s catering industry，I haven’t seen such a grand event for many years。

Before this，Wen Heyou’s name has been popular in Changsha for many years，But outside Changsha，Not many people know。Changsha Wenheyou is a food city similar to a theme park，Although it is still a restaurant street in essence，But because it recreates the street scene of old Changsha in the 1980s，Created its own unique competitiveness。Opened for three years，Receives 20,000 customers every day，Average queue time exceeds 3 hours，Becoming a new landmark in Changsha。

From a food stall 10 years ago，One store can equal the income of 50 Haidilao stores，What did Wen Heyou do right？Such a "right"，Can it be copied？Is it really possible for it to become a Disney-type company as it claims?？

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Wen Heyou’s story，Origined from Changsha Pozi Street 10 years ago。This is a thousand-year-old street，There are many business names since ancient times，Now it is a must-go snack for young people in Changsha、Trendy Street。

Wen Bin, founder of Wen Heyou，The first roadside stall was opened here，Mainly recommend fried pork ribs。From the beginning，He shows extraordinary brand awareness，A total of 5,000 initial funds，The sign cost 1,000 yuan。Wen Heyou’s “Sharp Spare Ribs” has gradually become a popular snack，There are more and more people lining up。

Follow the vine of "Old Changsha"，Wenbin quickly figured out the local people’s tastes, likes and dislikes in snacks。Follow the popular strategy，Fried stinky tofu will be launched one after another、Big Sausage、Crayfish。Start with crayfish，The name "Wen Heyou" gradually became popular，And embark on the road of catering matrix。Based on 2018 data，1400 square meters of lobster house，Annual sales can exceed 100 million yuan。

Overview of Wen Heyou’s catering content，They are just street snacks in Changsha，But from a 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino profit perspective，Snacks are actually the most profitable category in catering，Many catering brands were formerly food stalls。

The origin of snacks determines that catering is the gene of "Wenheyou"。For any business，The first entity successfully established by the founder，often determines the future development model and path of an enterprise。

Different from ordinary food stall owners，Wen Bin took a step forward，The snacks are grafted with the marketing gimmick of "market culture"，Add cultural value to the brand。The point of "market culture" is quite accurate，It matches the fireworks flavor of snacks，It also caters to consumers’ life sentiments。

When selling crayfish，Wen Bin said: "What I sell is not crayfish，What we sell is culture。”He thinks，“Delicious” is an emotion，Not just about the taste，It’s also about moving the heart through the five senses，In order to form emotions。"Only one guarantee，That feeling is not the only thing that can bring about emotions。”

The creation of super literary friends，It follows the idea of ​​​​"five senses"。Eating is not food，But the atmosphere。

2018，Super Wenheyou was born in Changsha Hisense Plaza，Known as a “new species” in the catering industry。Total seven floors，Over 20,000 square meters of floor space，Moved in all the street scenes of old Changsha in the 1980s。

80、The skating rink in the childhood memories of those born in the 1990s、Foot Washing City、Video Hall、Foot Washing City，Restored one by one，Mottled walls，Silk floral shirt hanging out to dry on the balcony，Double Happiness enamel jar...many old objects are collected from the private sector。A strong sense of age，Hit consumers’ nostalgia。 

A snack street composed of 20 local snack bars in Changsha on the third floor of Super Wenheyou，Named "Forever Street"，The same name as one of the oldest streets in Changsha；Customers can even experience crayfish fishing in the crayfish breeding pond；Wen Heyou also established an art museum，Do 4 to 6 local cultural exhibitions every year...

Various business layouts，It seems that Wen Heyou is determined to enter the cultural industry。However，It does，Is it really culture？

Sell food or culture? ——Probably neither

The identity played by Wen Heyou in "Super Wen Heyou"，Actually a “second landlord”，Ask for land from shopping mall，Re-sublet to Tangchaolizi、Winter Melon Tea、Foot Washing City and other 188bet sports betting app download wholesalers。On site selection，Wen Heyou’s logic is still to stay as close to popular business districts as possible，But not to the ultra-high-cost heartland，Become the center instead。

Walking around Super Wenheyou，You will find the difference between this place and ordinary shopping malls。

Compared to the main meals in shopping malls，Most of the catering shops in Wenhe Youli provide snacks、Fast food，On the one hand, "ready to eat"，Can achieve high-frequency customer acquisition，High turnover rate，Relatively easy to make，And "eat fast"，High turnover rate。

The layout of the floors is also completely different from the logic of ordinary shopping malls。Generally speaking，Shopping malls will put the most popular fast food underground，Dinner is placed on the fifth and sixth floors，Try to create a refreshing and smooth shopping environment on the first to fourth floors。

Wen Heyou is just the opposite，The first and second floors of Changsha store are specialties，The third floor is the food court。Guangzhou store is more direct，The entire first floor is given to time-honored food merchants，Ready to eat。This will inevitably cause a lot of congestion at the entrance，This is what shopping malls avoid，But it’s exactly what Wen Heyou wants。

Wen Heyou has three criteria for introducing merchants: First，Mainly time-honored brands，Existence time usually cannot be less than 10 years；Second，Not accepting chain brands，Merchant must be unique；Third，Business is better，Based on 3 months as a stage，If the merchant’s revenue is too low，will be replaced。

Most of Wen Heyou’s consumer groups are young people，So it depends on the choice of catering taste，To the entire marketing technique，They are all very young。

In terms of taste，For young people，Cold is better than hot，Fried is better than boiled，Satisfying cravings is more important than being full。Take Guangzhou Wenheyou Liufuji Wonton Noodles, which opened last year, as an example，He is leaning on a plate of fried wontons，Sales increased by 30%。

WeChat where young people gather、Weibo、Tik Tok，has also become Wenheyou’s most important marketing position。Wen Heyou grasped the simplicity of "checking in and taking photos"、A category of Internet celebrities with extremely wide spread。Super Wenheyou is not so much a food city，It’s better to say it’s a “spot” for taking photos and checking in。Shenzhen Wenheyou, newly opened this year，Except 188bet app dining routes，There is another tour route。Overlapping vertical signs，Create a cinematic night-night city effect；Various realistic scenes of the era，All can be used as shooting props；Coupled with the current popular sense of retro and so-called "feelings"，It completely hit the “itchy spot” of Internet celebrities，The whole mall is like a photo studio，You can shoot blockbusters in every corner。According to media data，2020，Exposure of Changsha’s super writers and friends in “Two WeChat and one TikTok self-media”，Over 6 billion times in total。

After the success of Changsha Wenheyou，Start on the road to expansion。Enter Guangzhou in 2020，April this year，Shenzhen store opening，More than 50,000 people lined up，Great momentum。

Looks like，Wen Heyou wants to copy Changsha’s success to the end。The problem is，Can such a model be copied successfully？

Copying Problem

Wen Heyou’s goal，It is based on the Changsha Hisense Plaza store model，In Beijing、Shanghai、Hong Kong、Open 10 super stores in Los Angeles and other first-tier cities at home and abroad。

To complete such expansion，Definitely need the support of capital。Currently，Wen Heyou received two financings in total，The first is a 70 million strategic investment from Tangrenshen Group in 2018，The second investment is hundreds of millions of dollars from Canadia Capital。Overall，Investment enthusiasm and Wen Heyou’s huge traffic，It seems not proportional。

For capital investment，Business models that can be replicated at scale are crucial。Wen Heyou’s model，Can it be copied?，It’s still a question。The localization in Changsha has been done well，The traffic is also very popular，But so far，It’s hard to say what business model has been created that can be replicated on a large scale。

First of all, we must be clear，The core of Wenheyou model，Is it catering or culture，Or cultural real estate？

Let’s talk about catering first。Wen Heyou’s initial success，Because it captures the taste of Changsha people，This is Wen Bin’s experience gained through more than ten years of hard work。Its "market culture"，It is also the market culture of Changsha。This set of localized content，Cannot be copied to other cities。Wen Bin himself said: "A foreigner goes to Beijing to eat Changsha stinky tofu，There must be something wrong with this scene。”

Guangzhou Super Wenheyou，It seems to be a lesson。Except for the crazy queues at 188bet app the beginning of the opening，It soon became dull，Just a few months，Many merchants have withdrawn。Many people refer to Guangzhou Wenheyou’s downturn，Attributable to overly replicating Changsha Wenheyou，Not only are there few designs that can evoke the feelings of Guangzhou people，On the choice of delicious food，“Guangzhou characteristics” are not enough yet。

Then，The road before Wen Heyou，It can only be localized according to the characteristics of each city。It is indeed trying this way。Businesses established by Shenzhen Wenheyou，Youniuxiang sweet potato porridge、Old Place Yantian Rice Roll、Baheli Beef Balls、Aba oyster brand and many other Guangdong specialties that are popular among locals，The main dish has also changed from crayfish from Changsha to "Shen Sheng Oyster"。

But from a capital perspective，This kind of expansion is not very efficient，Compared to fast-copying chain brands like Dashidai，Every time Wen Heyou visits a city，It is equivalent to re-polishing a system。Changsha model not only provides underlying logic，Almost no resources to share。

In terms of cultural real estate，Wen Heyou is just the second landlord，Ask for land from shopping mall，Release to other merchants。Hisense Plaza in Changsha back then，Because I am in business difficulties，Give Wen Heyou a very high discount on rent，Wen Heyou responded with a daily passenger flow of no less than 10,000 people。But the future “big landlords”，Will there be such a discount again？

High turnover rate，Wen Heyou’s “cultural” attributes，More challenges to the identity of second landlord。Businesses are not just tenants，More challenges to the identity of second landlord。

Wen Heyou’s vision is to “become the Disney of China’s food industry”，But various attractions in Disneyland，It is an organic and unified integration with the Disney brand，Look at the merchants below Wen Heyou，More like a tenant，Businessmen who entered the market，Each operates independently，Quandang opened a branch in Wenheyou。If the store’s revenue is not as good as expected，will break up。Such a "coherence in appearance but alienation in spirit"，It is difficult to condense a real cultural brand。

This catering flagship is branded as "Market Culture Museum"，Dragling a huge body，Trying to advance into a broader territory of China and even the world。Its founder claims，Their goal is to be the “Disney of food”188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino 。Many companies with cultural and creative genes，Everyone likes to describe the company’s great vision as “Disney in a certain field”。Disney has become a typical narrative method for creating cultural brands through the creation of IP，Everyone understands。

But the real market culture，Only in the market，The "market culture" created by Wen Heyou，Vision becomes more realistic，It’s just a scene，No soul。It cannot replace the warmth of the steaming street stalls in the early morning。

Internet celebrities easily become popular overnight，But Internet celebrities who become popular overnight are often difficult to copy，Even if you copy yourself。This may also be Wen Heyou’s dilemma。If only there were lively scenes，Then consumers are just watching the fun，If it’s just consumption feelings，What kind of feelings are worth repeated consumption？No deep connection with consumers，After the tide of phenomena recedes，Most likely a mess。

Moreover，Future Wenheyou，Are you serious about catering?，Still focusing on real estate？These are two different industries，Very different business ideas。

After all，“Internet celebrity” Wen Heyou wants to become “Disney”，The number of people queuing alone is not enough。Many more questions，Need to find the answer。

(Original title: "The logic behind the popularity of "Wen Heyou"，Can it be copied to another location？》)

*Source of this article:WeChat public"瀺石 Business Review" (ID:libusiness)，Author: Diego，Original title: "The popular logic of “Wen Heyou”，Can it be copied to another location？ 》.