Yosen Group, in partnership with China Telecom, is to open 30 more ‘Super Specialty’ stores this year.
Out of the additional 30 stores, 20 will be through renovation of Yosen’s existing stores, the other 10 new.
In March 2013, Yosen opened its first “Yosen Digital – China Telecom e-Surfing” super specialty store co-branded with China Telecom Zhejiang. Operated by Yosen, the store is located in Hangzhou Century Lianhua Hypermarket Yunhe branch. This was also China Telecom’s first specialty store in Zhejiang Province operated within a large supermarket.
In October 2013, Yosen announced its cooperation with China Telecom Zhejiang to open 10 more such co-branded stores. Yosen initiated this business model for China Telecom to establish its service in large scaled supermarkets so that their customers can enjoy the unique shopping experience and convenience of “branded mobile phones + operator service + Yosen service” all in one store.
“Yosen has been facing our industry’s increasingly fierce competition over the last few years. We were trying to find a way to transform us while shutting down low efficiency stores. Fortunately we found our way to open super specialty stores in cooperation with China’s three largest telecommunication operators,” said Yosen’s CEO Zhenggang Wang.
“China Telecom provided us subsidies in store renovation and rent. This alone strengthened Yosen’s unique cost advantage relative to our competitors. In the meanwhile, China Telecom’s endorsement through branding and other resources provides us significant assurance for our stores to resume fast growth over the next few years,” added Wang.