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The encyclopedia · Sales & Retail · Strategic decision · 2021–2024

Yonghui had 1,288 supermarkets and Tencent's backing — then lost ¥3.8B in a single year

China's No.2 supermarket chain posted a ¥3.83B net loss in 2021. JD.com and Tencent had invested over ¥10B. Miniso bought control for ¥6.3B in 2024.

Yonghui Superstores · Miniso · 2024-09-23

What happened

Yonghui Superstores (永辉超市), founded in Fuzhou in 1995, grew into China's second-largest supermarket chain by sales. At its peak it operated 1,288 stores across 29 provinces and 585 cities, with 84,931 employees. JD.com took a 10% stake in 2015 for ¥6.46 billion; Tencent bought 5% in 2017 for ¥4.22 billion.

From 2021, the traditional supermarket model broke down. Community group-buying, livestream commerce and warehouse clubs like Sam's Club and Costco分流了客流. Yonghui's 2021 revenue was ¥98.97 billion but it posted a net loss of ¥3.83 billion. Store closures and format conversions — from Bravo boutique stores to warehouse-format outlets — did not reverse the decline.

In May 2024, Yonghui reached a cooperation with Pang Donglai (胖东来), the Henan-based retailer famous for its service culture, and began remodelling stores on the Pang Donglai model. On 23 September 2024, Miniso (名创优品) announced it would acquire 29.4% of Yonghui for ¥6.3 billion, becoming its largest shareholder — ahead of founder Zhang Xuansong's 11.7%.

Why it happened

  • The traditional hypermarket model — large floor area, broad SKUs, thin margins — was undermined by community group-buying and warehouse clubs with lower prices or better curation
  • Yonghui's scale (1,288 stores, 8 million sq m) became a liability: each underperforming store carried a long lease and a full staff, and closing them was slow and expensive
  • The JD.com and Tencent investments brought capital but not a viable online strategy; the Guangdong joint venture with ParknShop did not change the core economics
  • The turnaround required an outside model — Pang Donglai's service-first, high-margin approach — that Yonghui's own management had not developed internally
What it cost¥3.83B net loss; control sold to Miniso for ¥6.3Bcostly

The lesson

Scale in retail is not a moat — 1,288 stores of a format customers are leaving is 1,288 leases to restructure, not an advantage to defend.

Aftermath

Under Miniso's ownership and the Pang Donglai model, adjusted Yonghui stores reported significant increases in customer traffic and sales. Whether the turnaround can be scaled across 1,288 stores — most of which have not yet been remodelled — remains the open question.

Sources

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