Is the Luckin Coffee Franchise Offer Real?

Websites posing as Luckin Coffee's official site have published franchise information and investment figures, but the company operates on a direct-sales model and does not accept franchising in any form. The brand issued an official statement in April confirming this. Store investments quoted on those pages, such as 200,000 yuan for a converted 50-square-meter space, do not come from the company.

The fake sites appear in search results and forum threads, where posters warn that the offers mainly collect personal information and money from a coffee enthusiast hoping to open a store. Luckin runs its own stores rather than selling rights to operators, so any page presenting a Luckin Coffee franchise fee or deposit should be treated as a scam.

Recently, pages suspected to be the official website of Luckin Coffee have appeared online, publishing franchise information and attracting attention from many coffee enthusiasts. However, Luckin Coffee has long officially stated that the brand operates on a direct-sales model and does not accept any form of franchising. This article will expose the tricks of these fake franchise websites, clarify Luckin Coffee's operating entity and store types, and help readers identify scams to avoid financial loss. At the same time, Front Street Coffee also reminds everyone that investing in the coffee industry requires careful verification of official information.

Today, the author noticed a website "suspected" to be Luckin's official site, which updated its corporate news. Has Luckin opened franchising?

In the coffee market, one of the hottest brands is Luckin Coffee, and opening a Luckin Coffee store is certainly a highly profitable business. Baidu has lots of information about Luckin franchising:

Recently on Luckin's Tieba forum, the thread starter reminded everyone to beware of "franchise" scammers, who are purely driving traffic to their own websites and tricking people out of information and money. Please be sure to know that "Luckin Coffee" is a direct-sales store and does not accept any form of franchising. Also be careful of some sites pretending to be the official website.

In April, Luckin Coffee issued an official statement. Please be sure to know that "Luckin Coffee" is a direct-sales store and does not accept any form of franchising.

Recently, the author saw a website "suspected" to be Luckin's official site, URL: http://www.yklide.com/jiameng.php

It mentions: How much capital is needed to open a Luckin Coffee franchise store?

Answer: 1. Renovating an old store: Generally, to convert a mid-range restaurant into a coffee shop, taking a usable area of 50 square meters as an example, renovating a Luckin Coffee store, purchasing tables and chairs, uniforms, tableware, kitchenware, and making signs costs about 50,000 yuan. Updating the unified storefront and interior decoration costs about another 50,000 yuan. Adding the franchise fee, deposit, and necessary promotional fees, an investment of about 200,000 yuan is enough to operate well.

2. Opening a new store: Decoration costs are invested at 250 yuan per square meter (C-level store) to 400 yuan (B-level store), equipment investment is calculated at 300 yuan per square meter, plus franchise fee, deposit, etc. A total budget of 800-1000 yuan per square meter is sufficient. (For specific costs, please leave a message to request franchise materials.)

"Suspected" Luckin official website franchise fee details: Luckin Coffee's initial franchise investment is about 300,000 yuan, including joint expenses in multiple areas such as franchise fee, deposit, decoration, equipment, and raw materials, excluding rent and labor costs. Cost breakdown: To open a Luckin Coffee store, in addition to the franchise fee, there will be expenses in many other areas. These investments together with the franchise fee make up the total expenditure for opening the store. Common cost investments mainly include decoration, equipment, deposit, raw material fees, and staff wages.

The "suspected" Luckin official website has also updated quite a bit of franchise information.

According to our understanding, Luckin Coffee's operating entity is Luckin Beijing. According to Tianyancha data, it has invested in multiple companies nationwide, which matches Luckin's city layout, as follows:

All are laid out in the form of directly operated branches

The real Luckin official website should be: http://www.luckincoffee.com/about. The operating entity is Luckin Beijing, which is accurate.

The "suspected" Luckin official website has a note at the bottom saying Luckin Coffee Franchise Official Website, with no other information noted.

Luckin Coffee's offline stores mainly have 4 types: flagship stores, leisure stores, pickup stores, and pop-up stores. The large ones are over 100 square meters, and the small ones are only about a dozen square meters.

Based on the author's current understanding, Luckin Coffee officially states that Luckin Coffee is a "direct-sales store" and does not accept any form of franchising. Therefore, everyone should still be careful of this "franchise" information. Front Street Coffee also reminds all coffee enthusiasts to be sure to verify through official channels before investing, and never easily trust franchise advertisements from unknown sources.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.