Lao Feng Xiang ends September with 4,809 outlets, down 107 in Q3
According to a summary of the company's notice, the chain closed 194 outlets and opened 87 in the third quarter. Main-business revenue fell 44.67% over nine months, and gross margin rose to 10.43%.
By Carat Capital
What changed
Closures outran openings. Lao Feng Xiang closed 194 outlets and opened 87 in the third quarter, according to a summary of its notice. It ended September with 4,809.
What it means
- If you supply Chinese chains: Closures hit low-yield franchises in tier-3 and tier-4 cities; about half of new franchises opened in tier-1 and tier-2.
- If you sell gold jewellery: Comparable direct stores grew 10.02% while jewellery revenue fell 35.13%.
- What this is not: A full set of accounts. These figures come from a summary of the notice.
Key figures
| Outlets, 30 Septemberfrom 4,916 at end-June | 4,809 |
|---|---|
| Franchise stores closedJan–Sep, tier-3 and tier-4 cities | 537 |
| Main-business revenueJan–Sep, −44.67% | RMB 26.49bn |
| Gross marginJan–Sep, +2.26 points | 10.43% |
Source: Guandian's summary of Lao Feng Xiang's notice of third-quarter 2026 operating data, 30 October 2026. The notice itself was not read.
Closures concentrate in small cities.
Low-yield franchises shut. Over nine months the chain closed 537 low-yield franchise stores in tier-3 and tier-4 cities, about 73% of all franchise closures, the summary says.
Bigger cities gain. It opened 90 franchise stores in tier-1 and tier-2 cities, about 49% of franchise openings. The net quarterly fall was 107 outlets.
| Line | RMB bn | Change on year |
|---|---|---|
| Jewellery | 24.63 | −35.13% |
| Gold trading | 1.73 | −82.20% |
| Domestic sales | 26.08 | −44.94% |
| Overseas sales | 0.41 | −18.18% |
| Total main business | 26.49 | −44.67% |
Guandian prints these in 亿 (100 million yuan); converted to billions and rounded by Carat Capital. Percentages are as printed. Pens and crafts lines are omitted.
Own stores grew, revenue fell.
Direct stores rose. Comparable directly operated stores, excluding those opened or closed in the period, grew sales 10.02%. Online platform sales rose 49.19% to RMB 466m.
Gold trading fell most. Main-business revenue fell to RMB 26.49bn. Jewellery fell 35.13% and gold trading 82.20%; the summary gives no cause for either.
Margin widens, openings planned.
Margin up. Gross margin rose 2.26 points to 10.43%. For the fourth quarter the chain plans 38 new outlets, eight of them in Shanghai.
What to watch
- 31 December 2026The year-end outlet count against 38 planned fourth-quarter openings. The test: a count above 4,809.
- Full-year 2026 report, 2027The year's tier-3 and tier-4 franchise closures. The test: whether the total runs past 537.
The story so far
Go deeper
What would change this call
The company's own notice, read at the exchange, carrying a different outlet count or revenue line would change this call.
What main-business revenue counts
主营业务收入 is revenue from the company's main lines: jewellery, gold trading, pens and crafts. It is not the operating revenue line in the half-year report, so the two are not compared here.
Method
Guandian (观点网), '老凤祥前三季度主营业务收入264.89亿元 同比降44.67%', page stamp '2026-10-30 17:22:06', body '10月30日，老凤祥股份有限公司披露2026年第三季度主要经营数据公告'. Captured by the Bureau at 04:31 EDT 31 October 2026 (door.py 200, 20,821 bytes, newsroom/bureau/raw/2026-10-31/lfx.html); the Editor read those bytes and greped the article text before the page's '你可能感兴趣' (related items) boundary: '264.89', '44.67%', '10.43%', '2.26', '246.27', '35.13%', '17.32', '82.20%', '260.82', '44.94%', '4.07', '18.18%', '4809', '4916', '107', '87', '194', '215', '4594', '537', '73%', '90', '49%', '38', '10.02%', '9.64%', '4.66', '49.19%' each read in its sentence. The notice itself sits on the Shanghai exchange behind a cookie-challenge page (caratglobal, 7,373 bytes) and was not read; every figure here is the summary's. Conversions: 264.89亿 = RMB 26.489bn; 246.27亿 = 24.627bn; 17.32亿 = 1.732bn; 260.82亿 = 26.082bn; 4.07亿 = 0.407bn; 4.66亿 = RMB 466m. Roll-forward: 4,916 + 87 − 194 = 4,809; 215 + 4,594 = 4,809. Not printed: a third-quarter-only franchise closure count (nine-month 537 minus the half-year 342 reported elsewhere gives 195, one more than the quarter's 194 closures of all kinds), and any comparison of the −44.67% with the half-year −40.08%, which is a different revenue line. Source verbs: the summary says 减少 (fell), 增长 (grew), 关闭 (closed), 新开 (opened), 拟新开 (plans to open); this page says fell, grew, closed, opened, plans. English cover: not found by general search (the Bureau and caratglobal, six searches); wire services were not checked. ARCHIVE, by entity: 'Lao Feng Xiang' 6 rows in website/content/articles.json (archive-hits.py, the Bureau, 31 Oct), each opened: five counter-price comparisons and one exchange attendee list. Ours: counter gold prices, August to October | new: January to September 2026 operating data: NEW.