Chinese retailers speed up closings as online shopping takes hold

Consumers sticking to habit acquired in pandemic lockdowns

20230829N Gome

Gome Retail is stepping up store closings, with plans to retain about 300 directly run mainstay locations. © Reuters

SHIN WATANABE, Nikkei staff writer

DALIAN, China -- Major Chinese retailers are shutting down stores at a rapid pace as they are unable to lure back customers who switched to online shopping during pandemic lockdowns.

The entrance to an electronics outlet run by Gome Retail Holdings in central Shanghai remained closed in mid-August, with a paper sign telling customers that the business had shut down.

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