China: Meituan's Happy Monkey surpasses 100 stores
Discount Retail Chain Meituan's Happy Monkey has officially crossed the 100-store milestone, opening 8 stores in two days, with its 100th store located in Zhongshan. Maintaining a steady pace of 7 to 8 new stores per month, it has emerged as a dark horse in the hard discount sector.
8 Stores Opened in 2 Days
Happy Monkey’s 100th Store Lands in Zhongshan, on September 30, the Guzhen World Trade Plaza store of Meituan Happy Monkey Supermarket officially opened. This is among the first batch of stores in Zhongshan and marks the 100th store nationwide. On the same day, the Dongfeng Dashun Fashion Hub store in Zhongshan opened simultaneously, alongside new grand openings in Guangzhou (Lejia Commercial Plaza, Baiyun District) and Shenzhen (Zhuochen Commercial Center and 2013 Times Square, Longgang District).
Adding the stores that opened the previous day — Ruibao Garden store and Taisha Building store in Haizhu District, Guangzhou, and Guoye Department Store in Guangming District, Shenzhen — with 8 stores opened in two days, Happy Monkey’s expansion continues unabated. Furthermore, the Zhongshan Poly Plaza store is currently undergoing intensive renovation and is set to open soon.
Starting with its first store in Hangzhou in August 2025, Happy Monkey spent two months refining its single-store business model before launching a cross-regional expansion in October of the same year, entering Langfang and Beijing to reach 8 stores by the end of the year.
As of September 30, Happy Monkey operates 100 stores nationwide across more than 10 new cities. For a new brand operating for just over a year in the hard discount market, it is truly a "dark horse." Compared to industry leaders, Chaohesuan NB has surpassed 500 stores, and Aldi has passed 120 stores. As a latecomer, Happy Monkey is rapidly narrowing the gap.
Why Is the Hard Discount Dark Horse expanding so fast?
As a community budget supermarket under Meituan, Happy Monkey operates under the motto "Great Goods Aren't Expensive, Double the Happiness." Its stores span 500 to 1,000 square meters, offering over 1,600 SKUs covering everyday household essentials such as fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, grains, oils, dairy, bakery, deli, snacks, beverages, and daily household goods.
At the opening of the first batch of stores in Zhongshan, the produce, meat, egg, and bakery sections inside the Guzhen store were packed with shoppers pushing carts filled with fresh greens, chilled meat, and daily supplies. The Dongfeng store saw whole families shopping together, creating long queues at the checkout counters. In terms of popular items, egg tarts were requested by users 427 times, durian 381 times, freshly roasted New Orleans roast chicken was priced at 16.99 yuan each, freshly baked thick crispy egg tarts at 5.99 yuan for four, fresh milk at 9.99 yuan per jug, and chilled salmon at 19.99 yuan.
It is worth noting that Happy Monkey selected major industrial towns like Dongfeng and Guzhen for its initial entry into Zhongshan. These areas feature high concentrations of migrant workers and dual-income families, creating strong demand for community supermarkets that offer "convenient shopping right downstairs, stable prices, and publicly posted pesticide residue reports." Recruitment listings indicate that Happy Monkey is actively hiring store managers, cashier supervisors, and location expansion staff in Zhongshan, with site plans already revealed for South District, Lihe, Sun City, Poly, and other areas. Multiple new stores are expected to roll out across Zhongshan’s urban centers and towns.
Its price competitiveness stems from three levels:
Direct sourcing from origin + ultra-lean operations. Leveraging Meituan's supply chain system, it eliminates middle layers. Stores avoid elaborate promotional displays and maintain minimalist decor, passing savings directly to consumers through lower prices.
Private-label anchor products. Private-label merchandise sells at highly competitive prices, forming the core profit structure of the hard discount model.
Uncompromised quality. Daily pesticide residue testing posted for fresh vegetables, pre-packaged produce, and cold-chain delivery for chilled pork—cheap does not mean settling for less. This is the second anchor of trust Happy Monkey aims to build alongside low prices.
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