MJstyle: 500-store fast-fashion chain died with customers' stored-value money inside

On April 8, 2024, the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People's Court accepted a bankruptcy liquidation petition against Shanghai Jianshang Fashion Co., Ltd. — the company behind MJstyle, a local fast-fashion chain founded in 2011 that once ran more than 500 stores across Asia. The petitioner was Nanjing Hanbo International Trade, a creditor that had failed to reach a repayment deal with the company.

MJstyle had grown with China's shopping-mall boom, but the decline was visible years before the filing: in 2023 it closed 17 stores and opened just 2, and by the end of the first quarter of 2024 only 124 stores remained in shopping centres of 50,000 m² or more across 24 cities.

Three years of pandemic had hollowed out the business, and after reopening, recovery was too slow for its creditors. Multiple suppliers sued; several applied for bankruptcy; and when negotiations with Nanjing Hanbo failed — the creditor refused a long-term, small-installment repayment plan — the liquidation petition followed. The company said it could not absorb the short-term cash pressure.

The collapse left customers holding the bill. MJstyle had aggressively sold stored-value cards; on April 23 consumers were texted that balances had to be spent in direct stores by April 30. By mid-May Beijing was down to a single store, refunds were arriving negative or not at all, and the official mini-program had gone blank. The brand name later returned under a new operator, but old stored-value balances were not honoured.