During the first quarter of 2012, the Chinese supermarket retailer Suguo maintained rapid growth, and by the end of March, it had opened 50 new outlets, making the total number of its owned stores reach 1,250.
These newly opened stores are mainly located in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. Of which, 12 shopping plazas and eight community stores are respectively located in Liuan, Jingjiang, Xuzhou, Xinghua, Yangzhong, Huoshan, Hefei, Hongze, and Huainan; and 30 standard supermarkets and convenience stores are respectively located in Nanjing, Maanshan, and Tongling.
The development of new stores also benefited the performance of Suguo in the first quarter of 2012. A representative from the retailer said that the overall economic situation in China was not optimistic in the first quarter this year, with economic growth slow-down and low consumer confidence. Meanwhile, rents and labor costs continued to increase, which brought large pressures to the development of the company. However, Suguo implemented several measures, including optimizing product structure, researching consumer demands, and decreasing costs and increasing efficiency, and successfully realized a double-digit growth of revenue.
The representative said that according to the company's development plan for 2012, it will open 300 new stores during the entire year.
To meet its demands for scale development, Suguo started the construction of its second logistics center in Huaian in March 2012. The first-phase construction is expected to be completed in 18 months. On its completion, the logistics center will provide distribution support to stores in central and northern areas of Suzhou as well as those in northern area of Anhui.
