The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2013–2018
Cheese Uncle (彻思叔叔): from 4.5-hour queues to three stores
A Shanghai bakery drew 4.5-hour queues and 120+ stores in 18 months; counterfeits selling at half price helped end it with three stores left.
彻思叔叔 · 上海香思 · 2014-11
What happened
The 彻思叔叔 cheese-tart boom exploded in Shanghai in 2013: the first store opened in February at the Jiuguang department store, sold a 39 yuan tart, and drew queues of up to 4.5 hours with daily sales past 700 cakes and monthly revenue around one million yuan at the flagship alone. Within 18 months the brand had more than 30 direct stores in Shanghai and franchises in 40+ other cities — over 120 stores in total.
The boom was a race with its own copies. Cheap counterfeits sold a 19 yuan tart against the original's 39 yuan, and by May 2015 a flagship weekday was moving just over 30 cakes. In November 2014 the operator announced it would close 20 of its Shanghai stores and keep about one per district.
The fade-out took four more years: on 20 August 2018 the brand's Hong Kong-listed operator, Bing She International, announced its own delisting and closed the last three retail stores. Its final fiscal year had revenue of about HK$7.6 million and a small operating loss.
Why it happened
- The brand expanded by franchise before it had any protection: 120+ stores in 18 months thinned out quality and novelty, and nothing stopped 19 yuan copycats from living off the 39 yuan queue.
- A cheese tart has no moat: it is easy to copy, so the marketing energy that built the queues could not be sustained once copies sat on every mall floor at half the price.
- The operator paid rent and staff for stores that no longer drew queues — by 2015 a flagship could sell 30 cakes a day — and the 2018 delisting was the last act of a brand that outran its own demand.
The lesson
A queue is not a moat: the 4.5-hour lines belonged to the novelty, not the brand, so the moment cheaper copies appeared, the queue moved to them.
Aftermath
The last three 彻思叔叔 stores closed in 2018 and the Hong Kong operator delisted. The brand became the template for the 'internet-famous bakery' cycle in China — a queue, a franchise rush, copycats, then closure — a pattern that repeated with dozens of later brands.
Sources
- 劳动报 via 网易财经, November 2014 — 彻思叔叔明年在沪关店20家 (opened February 2013 at Jiuguang; queues up to 4.5 hours; 39 yuan tart; flagship monthly revenue ~1M yuan; 700+ cakes a day at peak; 30+ direct Shanghai stores and 120+ total; 20 Shanghai stores to close, ~10 to remain; weekday sales down to 30+ cakes by May 2015)
- 南方都市报 via 搜狐, August 2018 — 官宣！那个红极一时的网红芝士蛋糕品牌要退市了 (first store 2013, 700+ cakes a day, 120+ stores, 2015 closures keeping one store per district; delisting announcement 20 August 2018; FY2018 revenue ~HK$7.6M with small operating loss)
- 盒饭财经 via 搜狐, July 2021 — 风来了，我没了：初代网红烘焙品牌消亡史 (February 2013 opening at Jiuguang; 4.5-hour queues; flagship monthly revenue ~1M yuan; 120+ stores; November 2014 closure announcement; Bing She International delisting 20 August 2018 with last three stores closed)
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