Growth Spurt: Adidas Plans To Open 600 Stores In China By The End Of '12

adidas Group China is “continuing its aggressive push into Chinese lower-tier cities with the planned opening of up to 600 stores,” according to Li Woke of CHINA DAILY. adidas Group China Managing Dir Colin Currie said, "We plan to open 500 to 600 stores in lower-tier cities by the end of the year." Currie said that the company “plans to open new stores in at least 300 to 350 cities where it does not have outlets now but where local competitors are present.” He added that the store openings this year “will focus on the western and northwestern parts of China.” The move follows the company's first quarter results, which were “boosted partly by strong sales in China, with a 26-percent increase.” Currie “attributed the rise to the company's Route 2015 strategy, which calls for five years of double-digit annual sales growth in China.” adidas has “opened more than 6,000 stores since it entered the Chinese mainland market in 1997” (CHINA DAILY, 7/19).

CLOSING TIME: Meanwhile, the WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Laurie Burkitt reported adidas is “closing its only company-owned apparel factory in China as part of a move to improve efficiency.” An adidas spokesperson said that the company “will close the 160-worker factory in China's coastal city of Suzhou at the end of October.” The company said that it “will source its products from other local Chinese manufacturers.” It already “works with 300 supplier factories in the country.” The spokesperson said that closure is part of adidas' “efforts to restructure business in China and globally to ensure efficiency and leverage scale.” The spokesperson added that adidas “will not be reopening the factory elsewhere” (WSJ.com, 7/18).