Texas-based convenience store chain 7-Eleven is to open up to 500 stores in the Chinese capital of Beijing within the coming five years.
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7-Eleven has authorised its two largest foreign operations to oversee the expansion in China: Taiwan-based President Chain Store Corp and Japan’s Seven-Eleven Japan Corp. These two operations will run the new stores together, with a Chinese partner taking a 35% stake in the venture.
7-Eleven already operates 100 stores in China, all within the affluent Guangdong province. The company’s plans to move into Beijing requires approval from city authorities, but is keen to have stores up and running in the capital in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which will be staged there.
The company has only identified 40 convenience stores in Beijing, a city with a massive population of 13.9 million people. The concept has not yet caught on, and 7-Eleven believes the ground is fertile for expansion.
Bob Jenkins, 7-Eleven’s international VP, said: “There’s not much competition in Beijing for convenience stores. There are a lot of supermarkets … There’s a lot of minimarts, but that’s not the same.”
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By GlobalDataReuters reported Jenkins as saying the company chose 7-Eleven’s partners in Taiwan and Japan for the Beijing venture because they are the firm’s two largest licensees and their most successful Asian operators. He noted also that the Taiwanese firm has experience stocking Chinese foods, while Seven-Eleven Japan uses leading-edge technology.
