YONGHUI Superstores opened 9 new stores in a week just before the end of the year. Even so, the retailer did not reach its expansion target of 50 stores in 2011.

 

Yonghui opened 9 stores from December 19 to 25 in Fujian, Anhui and Henan provinces, making its new store opening to 42 this year. It fulfilled 26% of its annual expansion target in December, compared with 13% in 2009 and 20% in 2010.

 

Yonghui Superstores planned to have around 50 new stores in 2011, according to its annual report of 2010. The report also showed that it would consolidate its leading position in major markets, accelerate its expansion and improve its gross margin at an increasing speed, as well as opening new stores in Tianjin, Henan, Jiangsu and Sichuan. With around 50 new stores, the retailer’s total store counts will exceed 200 and its sales revenue and store counts will increase correspondingly.

 

It seemed hard for Yonghui Superstores to reach its annual expansion target in the last three days prior to the year end.

 

The rush to opening new stores at the end of the year will put some pressure on the costs of the fourth fiscal quarter in the short run but will ensure the retailer’s revenue and profit improvement in the future, according to a study by Haitong Securities.