Xtep's Coffee Debut and the Signboard Decision
Xtep opened its first cross-industry coffee store in Chengdu, and the sign reads COSINE KASHU rather than Te Coffee. The choice reflects coffee beverage development trends, where brands separate a new product line from the parent identity to reach different customers. Costa coffee company information shows how established chains build recognition through naming, and Xtep appears to follow a similar logic by giving the shop a distinct label.
A neutral name also lets the store grow beyond a single brand association. If the coffee concept expands to other cities, COSINE KASHU can stand on its own. The store tests whether a sportswear company can run a cafe successfully, and the signboard is part of that test. Sales and repeat visits will show whether the approach works over the next year.
Another case of a sports brand entering the coffee market. Following Li-Ning's launch of Ning Coffee, Xtep, which has over 6,251 offline stores, has also filed trademark applications for "Te Coffee" and "XTEP COFFEE." Recently, Xtep's first coffee shop opened within its flagship store in the Chunxi Road business district of Chengdu. Surprisingly, the store sign does not display "Te Coffee" but instead shows "COSINE COFFEE." It turns out this is a collaborative store jointly created by Xtep and COSINE Coffee, a trendy beverage brand founded in Shanghai in 2021. Rather than opting for self-operation, Xtep chose collaboration to reduce cross-industry risks and test the waters. Whether this store is an attempt by Xtep to develop a side business or merely a supporting facility to enhance the in-store consumer experience has not yet been clearly addressed by the company.
Sports brands have a natural advantage in offline channels. Take Li-Ning, for example: its nationwide store count has exceeded 7,000. If coffee operations were introduced across all of them, Ning Coffee's store scale would easily surpass 7,000. Similarly, Xtep, a leading domestic sportswear brand with over 6,251 offline stores, has also shown intentions to cross into coffee. According to Qichacha information, Xtep (China) Co., Ltd. submitted registration applications for three "Te Coffee" and three "XTEP COFFEE" trademarks on August 18, 2022.
Recently, Xtep's first coffee shop opened in Chengdu, reportedly located within the Xtep flagship store in the Chunxi Road business district.
However, upon closer inspection, the store does not feature the words "Te Coffee." Although the menu displays the logo of the "XTEP COFFEE" trademark that Xtep is applying for, it is labeled below as "COSINE COFFEE."
In fact, this store is a collaborative outlet jointly created by Te Coffee and COSINE Coffee. In other words, although Xtep, like Li-Ning, possesses a large number of offline stores, it has not chosen to operate independently for now; instead, it is advancing its cross-industry coffee plan through partnerships with other coffee brands. This time, the "COSINE Coffee" teaming up with Xtep is a new trendy beverage brand established in Shanghai in 2021. Its founding team positions it as a scene-based ecological consumer brand for the new generation. The brand primarily expands offline through partnerships, such as building convenient coffee corners with Everyday Convenience Stores and launching COSINE BUFF supply stations in collaboration with Tencent Esports' partner hotel, Jing'e Hotel.
In fact, cross-industry forays into coffee by other sectors are already commonplace. At a time when burning cash for expansion is no longer the mainstream approach, giants in various fields must carefully deliberate and explore viable paths if they want to establish a foothold in the coffee market. Whether Te Coffee is a move by Xtep to develop a side business or simply an in-store facility to enhance the overall consumer experience, the company has not yet made an official response.
However, coffee is, after all, an unfamiliar domain for Xtep. Xtep's choice to prioritize opening stores in partnership with coffee brands appears more like an operation to reduce risks and test the market.
For sports brands wanting to cross into coffee, supply chains, product development, and store operations are all new challenges. Choosing to collaborate with mature coffee brands not only allows them to leverage the partner's expertise for rapid implementation but also enables them to observe market reactions with controllable investment. Whether Xtep will launch independently operated coffee stores in the future or gradually embed coffee operations into more offline stores remains to be seen over time.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
