Suning to add 370 new stores in 2011, spin off B2C site
Shanghai. February 24. INTERFAX-CHINA - Suning Appliances Co. Ltd., China's leading home appliance retailer, plans to open 370 new stores this year, bringing its total store count to 1,700, the company announced Feb. 23.
Suning will also build 60 logistics bases across China and 10 fully-automated storage warehouses by the end of 2014, according to the announcement.
The company previously said it would have 1,600 stores by end-2011, up from 1,353 at the end of last year.
The aggressive expansion comes days after Best Buy Co., Ltd. announced it would close its nine branded outlets in China and refocus on its Chinese subsidiary Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co. Ltd.
Suning also said it would spin off its business-to-consumer Web site Suning Yigou ("Easy Shopping") into a subsidiary. It did not disclose the subsidiary's name or when the restructuring would take place.
Launched a year ago, Suning Yigou generated RMB 2 billion ($304 million) in sales revenue for 2010, according to the announcement.
Suning reported RMB 54 billion ($8.21 billion) in revenue for the first three quarters of 2010. Its shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange closed at RMB 13.68 ($2.08) on Feb. 24, up 6.29 percent from the previous trading day.
- YXY
