Consumer

China’s Mega-Grocers Turn to an Upstart to Win Back Shoppers

  • Cult hit Pangdonglai advises some of country’s biggest brands
  • No. 2-in-market Yonghui revamping stores in tiny chain’s image
Shoppers browse a Pangdonglai store in Xuchang, China, in July.

Photographer: Colum Murphy/Bloomberg

Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

China’s biggest supermarkets are struggling to survive.

France’s Carrefour SA has shut more than 140 mainland stores, leaving just four remaining outlets, and the UK’s Tesco PLC has exited entirely. Traffic-driving membership chain Sam’s Club is a bright light for Walmart Inc., which has had to rethink its China strategy. Last year, four out of five of China’s leading hypermarkets saw up to double-digit sales declines.