OVENSTAR's Ningbo push broke cash flow, shuttering stores and leaving wages owed

OVENSTAR (欧文酵室), a Wenzhou bakery chain founded in 2018, peaked near 100 stores across 温州, 宁波, 余姚 and 平阳. It expanded hard into Ningbo, but the local food producer it partnered with later raised prices and broke the deal, so it switched to shipping from its Wenzhou central kitchen — adding tens of thousands of yuan a month in logistics cost.

From March 2026 wages started arriving late, then from April were held back; some staff quit, leaving stores short-handed. In mid-July stores began quietly closing. Rumours of a '跑路' and unusable card balances spread, and consumers rushed to spend down prepaid balances — each day of concentrated redemption was costing the firm tens of thousands of yuan.

Founder 戴鹏飞 denied fleeing, said he was cooperating with the 商务 and 人社 departments, confirmed both his homes were mortgaged, and laid out a livestream self-rescue: 70% of live-sales revenue to wages, 30% to operations. About ¥1.53M in wages was owed.

By 2026-07-20 nearly 20 stores had reopened, and on 07-16 鹿城区商务局 had summoned the owner. The case turned a growth bet and a supplier default into a cash crunch with wage arrears and a prepaid-card run.

Wage arrears of about ¥1.53 million, store closures, and a prepaid-card run resulted from the Ningbo expansion and supplier default.

Backed a fast Ningbo expansion on a single supplier arrangement that broke when it defaulted

Let wage arrears and understaffing quietly spiral until stores shuttered and a card run began

Turned loyal prepaid balances into an emergency funding call the moment confidence cracked

Fast expansion financed on one supplier and the chain's own cash is fragility. OVENSTAR scaled into Ningbo, lost its partner, and let wage arrears turn panic into a prepaid-card run.

OVENSTAR closed stores from mid-July 2026 as wage arrears and a prepaid-card scramble hit cash flow. Founder 戴鹏飞 denied fleeing, said ~¥1.53M in wages was owed and being repaid, and launched a livestream self-rescue splitting live-sales revenue 70% to wages and 30% to operations. 商务 and 人社 departments intervened, and 鹿城区商务局 summoned the owner on 07-16. About 20 stores had reopened by 07-20, though editorial checks counted only a fraction of the firm's listed outlets actually trading. The cost was wage arrears, shuttered stores, and shaken consumer trust in prepaid cards.