China: Pangdonglai store visit in Xuchang

Discount Retail Consulting management team recently visited the Pangdonglai Angel City (天使城) store in its home town Xuchang. Pangdonglai (胖东来), often hailed as China's "retail miracle" or the "Trader Joe's of China," is a beloved supermarket and shopping mall chain based in Xuchang, Henan Province. It is only active with its 13 stores in the Henan province and plans to open a new store in the capital of Henan Province Zhengzhou in 2026. Pangdonglai is privately owned by the founder Yu Donglai.

Pangdonglai owns and operates several large comprehensive malls in Xuchang, such as Angel City (天使城), Times Plaza (时代广场), and Living Plaza (生活广场).

It's famous for exceptional customer service, Tuesday all stores are closed to guarantee employees at least one day off, high employee welfare (like generous paid leave and salaries - 3 times what is normal in Chinese retail), strict product quality of limited private label, self produced and import items, and thoughtful details that make shopping a premium experience — turning its stores into tourist attractions where people travel from across China to visit.

See also more on the format in our previous DRC blog: https://www.discountretailconsulting.com/post/china-how-a-lower-tier-grocer-pangdonglai-is-rewriting-chinese-retail-rules

The revenues of the Pangdonglai (DL) is estimated on approximately 169.64 billion RMB (or rounded to nearly 170 billion RMB), as disclosed by founder Yu Donglai on social media and reported by multiple media like New Beijing News, Every Economic Net, and Sina Finance. This includes breakdowns such as supermarket sales leading at ~81 billion RMB across its locations.

Here are some visual highlights from DL stores in Xuchang (including interiors, exteriors, and crowded scenes reflecting their popularity):

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