Related News
Gome's store plan to fight Huang charge
By Pan Xiaoyi |
September 4, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
GOME Electrical Appliances said it plans to open a net 130 stores in the next four months as it steps up to fight criticism from its disgraced former Chairman Huang Guangyu that the retailer is losing market share to its major rival Suning.
The announcement came ahead of a special shareholders meeting to be held on September 28 to discuss whether to unseat current Chairman Chen Xiao and to issue 20 percent more shares.
Huang, also Gome's founder who is serving a 14-year sentence for bribery and insider trading, has demanded that the board of directors oust Chen as he lambasted the current chairman for pursuing wider profit margins at the expense of losing market share by closing underperforming outlets.
Taking the bull by the horn and rejecting Huang's demands, Gome said a 19-month long network optimization project has been completed and it plans to expand again as a vital part of its five-year strategy.
Gome aims to keep its leading position in the first-tier cities and focus on five major markets, including Shanghai and Beijing. It will also grow in lower-tier cities such as Chongqing and Kunming.
Around 70 new stores will be unveiled this month while another 90 stores will open after renovations.
"Gome will speed up store openings in the rest of this year to achieve its five-year ambition. Meanwhile, the company will attach more importance on increasing same-store sales," said Sun Yiding, vice president of Gome.
Since last year, Gome has closed more than 150 stores to lift profitability. By the end of June, Gome had 740 stores nationwide while Suning's totaled 1,075.
Industry watchers said there is still room to expand in the electrical appliances market of China where rural consumption is expected to play a larger role.
The announcement came ahead of a special shareholders meeting to be held on September 28 to discuss whether to unseat current Chairman Chen Xiao and to issue 20 percent more shares.
Huang, also Gome's founder who is serving a 14-year sentence for bribery and insider trading, has demanded that the board of directors oust Chen as he lambasted the current chairman for pursuing wider profit margins at the expense of losing market share by closing underperforming outlets.
Taking the bull by the horn and rejecting Huang's demands, Gome said a 19-month long network optimization project has been completed and it plans to expand again as a vital part of its five-year strategy.
Gome aims to keep its leading position in the first-tier cities and focus on five major markets, including Shanghai and Beijing. It will also grow in lower-tier cities such as Chongqing and Kunming.
Around 70 new stores will be unveiled this month while another 90 stores will open after renovations.
"Gome will speed up store openings in the rest of this year to achieve its five-year ambition. Meanwhile, the company will attach more importance on increasing same-store sales," said Sun Yiding, vice president of Gome.
Since last year, Gome has closed more than 150 stores to lift profitability. By the end of June, Gome had 740 stores nationwide while Suning's totaled 1,075.
Industry watchers said there is still room to expand in the electrical appliances market of China where rural consumption is expected to play a larger role.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
