Chinese supermarket giant Lianhua to open 500 stores
Lianhua Supermarket Holdings, Co, Ltd., a Chinese retail giant, plans to open 500 supermarkets this year with an investment of 600 million yuan ($87.84 million) to compete with international rivals, according to reports Thursday.
Foreign capital occupies a large market share in China and even monopolizes certain areas in the market. Last year, Wal-Mart opened 50 stores in China, Korean Lotte Co., Ltd. acquired Times Supermarket Co., Ltd., and there is an almost-certain speculation that Bao Longcang Commercial Chain Management Co. Ltd. will be bought by Carrefour.
Last June, Lianhua took on Beijing Hualian Supermarket Co. ltd by 492 million yuan ($72.04 million) and the bulked Lianhua made a net profit of 141 million yuan ($20.64 million) in the first quarter of 2010, which is a 50 percent rise year on year.
Lianhua is looking ahead into the future and will adopt multiple business models in order to develop better chain stores, said Hua Guoping, general manager of Lianhua.