Yonghui closed 381 stores in one year to save itself — its biggest loss ever

When Miniso bought control of Yonghui for ¥6.3 billion in September 2024, the open question was whether the Pang Donglai remodel — the Henan grocer's service-and-quality model — could scale across the national chain. The 2025 answer was no: instead of scaling up, Yonghui cut down. It began the year with 775 stores; in twelve months it closed 381 of them as doors that no longer fit its strategy, and put 284 more through deep renovation while still trading.

The surgery was the costliest year in the company's history. Asset write-offs and one-time closure inputs ran to about ¥880 million, with roughly ¥300 million of gross profit lost while stores sat dark for renovation. Revenue fell 20.82% to ¥53.508 billion; the loss widened from ¥1.465 billion to ¥2.552 billion — a fifth straight losing year — and reached ¥3.42 billion after stripping out non-recurring items. Operating cash flow fell 70.5% to ¥646 million. Q4 alone lost ¥1.84 billion as the closures concentrated.

By March 31, 2026 the chain stood at 392 stores — 626 eliminated since the reform began — with 327 doors renovated and their revenue up 16.57% year on year. The first payoff arrived in Q1 2026: profit of ¥287 million, up 94.4%, even as revenue fell another 23.53% and gross margin rose 1.27 points on private-label growth. Management calls 2026 a recuperation year — no more mass closures, 200 new own-brand SKUs planned. The chain that once ran 1,288 stores now earns its profit from fewer than four hundred.