Suning eclipses Gome in number of retail outlets
Shanghai. December 2. INTERFAX-CHINA - Shenzhen Stock Exchange-listed Suning Appliances Co. Ltd. (Suning) will open 70 new retail outlets in December 2010, including two in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), state media reported on Dec. 1.
According to the 21st Century Business Herald, the additions will bring the Chinese home appliance retailer's total number of stores to 1,353 at the end of 2010.
Suning plans to have 1,600 stores by the end of 2011, the report added.
Suning's major rival Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. (Gome) had 1,255 stores, including those privately owned by Gome's founder Huang Guangyu, at the end of September this year.
Suning had 1,283 stores, including 23 in Hong Kong and 8 in Tokyo, as of Nov. 28, according to comments made by Suning President Jin Ming in the report.
Suning opened 265 stores in the first nine months of 2010, 131 of which were opened in the third quarter (Q3) alone, Interfax previously reported.
Suning's shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange closed at RMB 13.93 ($2.09) on Dec. 2, up 1.31 percent from the previous day.
-LX