Chinese Bread Retailer Invests CNY440 Million For Store Renovations

According to Luo Tian'an, chairman of the China-based bread and cake retailer Christine, to reverse its performance decline the company plans to invest CNY440 million for store renovations in the next three years.

Since the company's IPO in 2012, its performance has continued to decline. Its financial report for the year of 2013 showed that the group's operating revenue was CNY1.38 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 0.6%; and it suffered net losses of CNY37 million. The group attributed its poor performance to business model problems and the increase of labor and leasing costs.

Luo said that in 2014, the company plans to renovate 115 stores and all of its 1,100 chain stores will complete renovation over the next three years. At present, the renovation cost for an individual store is about CNY400,000.

Luo also revealed that apart from store renovations, Christine's product structure will not be limited to bread and cakes anymore. They will add breakfast, on-site produced sandwiches, and DIY items.

So far, this bakery chain has completed renovation of two stores and the customer volume reportedly doubled after the renovation. If the renovation project proceeds smoothly, the company is expected to achieve profit before the end of 2014.