Cafe de Coral to shut all outlets in eastern China as the Hong Kong flavour goes out of favour
The company announced on its official WeChat account that it would “close all eastern China stores in late October”, and urged customers who are its members to cancel their membership and get a refund
Cafe de Coral, one of Hong Kong’s most popular fast food chains, said it would close all of its restaurants in eastern China by the end of this month, as its business on the mainland had struggled to capture the palates of Chinese diners.
Shares of Cafe de Coral opened up 0.2 per cent on Thursday at HK$24.35, following a 1.3 per cent gain on Wednesday. The stock has declined 11 per cent since October 19 last year.
The chain would “close all its eastern China stores” in Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuxi by late October, according to an October 14 announcement on its official account on the WeChat social media service, urging customers to cancel their memberships to obtain a refund.
The closure of the eastern China stores is a “short term strategic adjustment” to redirect its focus on the southern China business, the company said in an emailed statement.
Established in Causeway Bay in 1968, Cafe de Coral operates 359 chains in Hong Kong, with 99 restaurants on the mainland as of March. Most of its China network is in Guangdong province, with around 90 outlets and the remainder in eastern China.
