Burger King China shut 107 stores — below ¥6K a day meant closure

Burger King entered China in 2005 and expanded aggressively under Turkish franchise operator TFI (Tab Food Investments), reaching 1,474 stores by end of 2024. But the expansion pushed into locations that could not sustain the brand: lower-tier cities, secondary shopping areas, and sites with insufficient foot traffic for a Western burger chain.

In June 2025, Burger King China announced a 'store optimisation' strategy: close any restaurant with annual sales below $300,000 (~¥2.15 million) or daily revenue under ¥6,000. In the first half of 2025 alone, the chain closed a net 107 stores, shrinking from 1,474 to 1,367. Multiple stores in Shenzhen were among the first to shut.

The closures were paired with selective openings: 40–60 new stores planned in core commercial districts of tier-1 and tier-2 cities where the brand already had traction. The strategy was a reversal of the earlier expansion — stop chasing store count, start chasing per-store profitability.

The market responded. Same-store sales turned positive for the first time in six quarters following the initial wave of closures — evidence that the remaining stores were healthier than the portfolio they replaced. But the reduction raised a question: could Burger King China sustain relevance at 1,367 stores in a market where McDonald's operated over 6,000 and KFC over 10,000?

Closed any store under ¥6K daily revenue, shrinking from 1,474 to 1,367 stores, and same-store sales turned positive for the first time in six quarters.

Burger King China expanded into locations that could not sustain Western fast-food pricing — lower-tier cities and secondary shopping areas where daily revenue fell below ¥6,000.

The ¥6,000 daily revenue threshold revealed how thin the margins were: a single bad location could drag down the entire regional P&L, and the chain had accumulated hundreds of such locations.

Competitors McDonald's (6,000+ stores) and KFC (10,000+) had already captured the premium fast-food locations, leaving Burger King with the remaining, less profitable sites.

The franchise model (TFI) incentivised store openings for royalty revenue, making it harder to stop expansion until losses became undeniable.

A franchise model that rewards store count over store quality fills a map with locations — then the operator must close the ones that should never have opened.

Same-store sales turned positive after the closures for the first time in six quarters. Burger King China planned 40–60 new openings in tier-1/2 core locations, betting that a smaller, better-located portfolio could compete against McDonald's and KFC at scale.