Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • November 2005 (Revised September 2007)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Beijing Hualian

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:27
ShareBar

Abstract

China's fifth largest domestic retailer faced intensifying competition from Wal-Mart and Carrefour with the opening of China's fast-growing retail market in January 2005. In response, Beijing Hualian developed a new "Family Store" format targeted at the nation's growing middle class, made up of younger consumers with more fashionable tastes. Like hypermarkets, Hualian Family Stores include both food and nonfood lines, but differ in design and in the product and brand mix that would be carried. Results from the pilot store (a remodeled hypermarket in Beijing) were encouraging, with revenues and profits up and customers spending more on each visit. The company must decide how quickly to roll out Family Stores in China. Strategic issues include preempting competition by moving quickly into new cities, balancing the buying power of multinational retailers who were also purchasing merchandise for export, leveraging Beijing Hualian's understanding of the rapidly changing domestic market, accessing capital for expansion, and training and retaining Chinese management talent.

Keywords

Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry; China

Citation

Bell, David E., and Mary L. Shelman. "Beijing Hualian." Harvard Business School Case 906-403, November 2005. (Revised September 2007.)
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

David E. Bell

Marketing
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • December 2022
    • Faculty Research

    To Feed the Planet: Juan Luciano at ADM

    By: Joshua D. Margolis, David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin, Stacy Straaberg and James Weber
    • December 2022
    • Faculty Research

    The Magic of Marks & Spencer Food

    By: David E. Bell, Natalie Kindred and Damien McLoughlin
    • May 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Regression Exercises

    By: David E. Bell
More from the Authors
  • To Feed the Planet: Juan Luciano at ADM By: Joshua D. Margolis, David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin, Stacy Straaberg and James Weber
  • The Magic of Marks & Spencer Food By: David E. Bell, Natalie Kindred and Damien McLoughlin
  • Regression Exercises By: David E. Bell
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College