A man tries out a new Seagull camera at a shopping mall in Shanghai. Photo: IC

In the 1970s, almost every newlywed Shanghai couple would buy four things for their home - a bike, a sewing machine, a watch and a camera. All of these "vital" items were made in Shanghai and the manufacturers were a mainstay of the city's economy for many years. They were highly regarded throughout the country and were famed for reliability and durability.

But by the late 1990s and early 2000s it was hard to find these bikes, sewing machines, watches and cameras. Most of the shops that once stocked them were closed and it was difficult to find someone who could repair one of these classic items if it malfunctioned.

But in the past few years there has been a resurrection for Forever bikes and Seagull cameras (which are now digital) and both are proving almost as popular as they were in the 1970s. At the 2014 China Time-honored Brand and Famous Brand Expo in Pudong New Area people queued to check out the new Seagull CK10 and CM9 digital cameras. Cyclists had a chance to test ride the new Forever bikes and many looked them over.

Most of the curious onlookers were middle-aged or elderly. Tang Yamin came to the fair almost every day to look for Shanghai brand items but while she enjoyed the experience she was not rushing to actually buy. "I won't get a new Seagull digital camera as I already have two Nikons." She used to have a Seagull camera in the 1980s but bought a Nikon after her Seagull broke.  

Qu Jiantao is the CEO and one of the co-founders of the Shanghai Seagull Digital Camera Co., Ltd. Even when the challenges from the Japanese brands Nikon and Canon threatened the viability of his company he remained confident in the brand. "My brand has a huge reputation for quality and reliability. Out there, there are still millions of Seagull camera fans."

Visitors check out Forever bicycles at an exhibition. Photo: CFP

Structure change

Keeping pace and answering the challenges from the new wave of Japanese cameras, the Shanghai Seagull Digital Camera Co., Ltd not only made its cameras digital but changed the structure of the company to catch up with the new market era.

Qu Jiantao and his team established the Shanghai Seagull Digital Camera Co., Ltd in 2010, thus ending 52 years of State ownership. From 1958 to 2004 more than 20 million cameras had been produced during the glory days of the company. But after 2004, for five years, the company stopped producing its brand cameras and instead manufactured equipment for other companies. Later Qu and partners bought the company and privatized it.

It was not an easy business decision, Qu said. He had to pay out on the debts the old company had accrued and then had to assess the staff, deploy the key people and look for new talent.

"Now I have a lot more freedom to make decisions," Qu said. He described his experiences of working with the old State-owned business as being like trying to dance while being chained up. After becoming the biggest shareholder in the new company, Qu invested 100 million yuan ($16.20 million) to launch a 50-strong research and development team in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Qu said he did this because he did not want to overdraft the brand by being an original equipment manufacturer - he felt the way of the future was to master core skills and be creative.

But Zhou Dongsheng, a professor of marketing at the China Europe International Business School, said the amount of investment was far from enough. "Just think - the Seagull's competitors are Nikon and Canon."

Natural deaths

Zhou was not optimistic about the renaissance of these popular old brands and believes it will be a huge challenge for the ambitious entrepreneurs involved in the revival. "Every brand has a market life period. Some will die naturally," Zhou said.

He pointed out, as an example, the bankruptcy of the world-famous film producer, Kodak. Photographic film belonged in the past now that the digital age has arrived. Although some photographers still prefer to develop their pictures they are in the minority. Most people now take and display their images on a smartphone or tablet.

Zhou said these resurrected companies would have to pay to maintain the reputations of the brands alongside having to win customer trust. It may cause these companies to lose money in the early stages of their redevelopment.

Qu was not phased by Zhou's concerns. "I know I have not been making money from the time I decided to take over the old Seagull company. It takes time," he said, adding that customer expectations were putting added pressure on him and his company.

Zhou thinks the renaissance of these brands is just a market phenomenon and the government should not get involved. "What the government should do is to ensure there is fair competition and not interfere with the market competition."

But Yuan Zhijian, the secretary of the board of Shanghai Forever Co., Ltd, thinks the government has to become involved. "The city government should advocate a healthy city life by promoting cycling. There should be a public rental network for city cyclists," Yuan said. He said Shanghai should learn from its neighbor city, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, which has built a successful city network for cyclists.

The China Time-honored Brand and Famous Brand Expo is a popular haunt for visitors remembering items from days gone by. Photo: Zhao Yashan

Japanese funding

Bikes were the usual form of transport in the 1980s before cars and subways arrived in Shanghai. Most cyclists would have chosen, if they could have, bikes made by the Shanghai Forever Co., Ltd. The Shanghai Forever bike factory opened in 1940 with Japanese funding and was taken over by the State in 1949.

Yuan is enthusiastic about the company and its history. In the 1960s when he joined the company his average monthly salary was 58 yuan and he had to save for three months before he could afford to buy a bike. The company reached a peak between 1992 and 1993 when its annual gross sales were about 1.2 billion yuan, Yuan said. "That means we produced 30,000 bikes every day." But the glory days began fading and annual revenue dropped to a low of 270 million yuan in 2000.

There are fewer cyclists on the roads of Shanghai nowadays. On some of the city's main roads, like Yan'an Road, it's impossible to ride a bike. "There are no cycle lanes there. Cyclists would have to be very careful."

For Yuan the city lacks enough cycle lanes and it is difficult for cyclists to get around - points he would like the government to take action on.

Qu said his camera company was not receiving any assistance from the government, either as tax relief or in a policy form. "The government won't do anything for you until you can show you are capable and you are achieving something," he said.

The new Seagull CK10 camera Photo: Courtesy of the Shanghai Seagull Digital Camera Co., Ltd

To find a way out

These traditional manufacturers are now having to target the younger generation to stay alive. The new Seagull CK10 camera has a Wi-Fi connection that lets users share pictures immediately in a Wi-Fi area. On tmall.com, a popular online shopping platform, people who bought the cameras are enthusiastic. They like the vintage design and modern functionality. Owners can have their names engraved on the cameras as well.

 For Yuan the bike company's online business is a success story, albeit a small success story at present. Shanghai Forever began to expand its online business at the end of 2010 and online revenue for the past six months was 60 million yuan - 20 percent of the total company revenue for the first six months, Yuan said. He is looking to see the online business growing to between 25 and 30 percent in the second half of the year.

Bricks-and-mortar

While the success of Alibaba has inspired some of the traditional companies to establish online stores, younger customers, ironically, seem to prefer shopping in the old-fashioned way. A survey reported in thepaper.cn showed that 70 percent of young people questioned preferred to go to bricks-and-mortar stores rather than shops online for traditional brand items.

Not all young people are impressed by the sense of history or tradition that these old brands have. One young woman, surnamed Shen, dismissed the notion of a renaissance. "These brands belonged to my parents' and grandparents' generations. I don't have any connection with them or feelings for them."

Tang, the lady who had the Japanese cameras, said she would always prefer Seagull cameras - and she often tells her son stories about Seagull cameras.