Anta Brand CEO Xu Yang Resigns, Lai Shixian Takes Over as Acting CEO
Claire Weston
Anta's flagship brand CEO Xu Yang resigned for family reasons, with group co-CEO Lai Shixian stepping in immediately — just as new store formats stall and the main brand's revenue growth slows to 3.7%, putting its retail overhaul at a crossroads.
Who left, and who stepped in?
On July 15, Anta brand CEO Xu Yang resigned for family reasons. The group said he would be "reassigned."
Executive director and group co-CEO Lai Shixian took over as acting brand CEO the same day, assuming full operational control.
Anta stressed that the main brand's long-term strategic direction remains unchanged.
What did Xu Yang do during his tenure?
Xu returned to the main brand in March 2023 — the first Anta brand CEO not from the sales track.
His signature move: splitting stores by location and consumer scenario — SV stores for premium malls and sneaker culture, Super Anta for mass-market families, plus concept formats like ANTAZERO and ANTA ARENA.
This means → he transplanted the Arc'teryx playbook — prime-location flagships, direct retail, community-driven brand building — onto a far broader canvas.
Did the new store formats deliver?
Super Anta was supposed to reach 160 stores by 2025. By June this year, the count sat at roughly 120. Rapid expansion will end in 2026, shifting to fine-tuning product mix and unit economics.
SV stores shrank from 62 at mid-2025 to about 41 by June 2026. The SV division has been folded into the lifestyle-footwear unit.
In plain terms = both formats switched from "open first, optimize later" to "prove the economics first." Expansion has clearly hit the brakes.
How do the main brand's financials look?
In 2025 Anta's main brand posted revenue of RMB 34.75 billion, up 3.7% year-on-year — well below the 10.6% growth in 2024.
Gross margin fell 0.9 percentage points to 53.6%; operating margin dropped 0.3 points to 20.7%.
This means → both top-line growth and profitability slipped at the same time, suggesting the new formats have yet to translate into visible financial returns.
What to watch after the leadership change?
Anta has not abandoned its scenario-based retail strategy, but the new formats have entered a proving period for store-level efficiency and profitability.
The leadership handover means this retail overhaul will face a deeper review under new management.
This reflects a core question: the main brand spans a far wider range of consumers, price points, and distributor channels than Arc'teryx. Whether the Arc'teryx playbook actually works at Anta's scale is the single most important thing to watch next.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.