Is Luckin Coffee preparing to open stores in the United States?
Luckin Coffee is moving ahead with site selection for United States stores, has contacted service agencies, and is recruiting staff. LinkedIn shows five job postings in New Jersey from the past month, covering IT operations, finance, interior design, human resources, and a tax manager role that reports directly to the CFO. New York and other East Coast cities are reportedly the first choice.
The hiring points to an early-stage North American team. A social media user said Luckin began recruiting through headhunters in October 2024, and an HR deputy director joined in January. Combined with earlier Financial Times reporting and comments by CFO Guo Jinyi, the company may use a cautious, flexible approach as it weighs a shift from Southeast Asia toward North America.
The news of Luckin Coffee opening stores in the United States has once again sparked attention. Recently, a WeChat public account published an article stating that Luckin is pushing forward with site selection for U.S. stores, has begun contacting relevant service agencies, and is actively recruiting talent. LinkedIn information shows that within the past month, Luckin posted 5 job openings located in New Jersey, USA, covering IT operations, finance, interior design, human resources, and tax, among which the Tax Manager position requires directly reporting to the CFO. Combined with previous reports by the Financial Times and statements by CFO Guo Jinyi, Luckin may explore the U.S. market with a prudent and flexible strategy, with East Coast cities such as New York as its first choice. Whether this series of actions means Luckin's overseas strategy will shift from Southeast Asia to North America is worth continued attention.
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Recently, a WeChat public account article disclosed that Luckin Coffee is pushing forward with site selection for opening stores in the United States, has already begun contacting relevant service agencies, and is vigorously recruiting talent.
LinkedIn search results show that Luckin has added 5 new job postings in the past month, including IT Operations Engineer, Finance, Interior Design, Human Resources, and Tax Manager. The work locations for these positions are all listed as "New Jersey, United States," which inevitably leads people to speculate that Luckin may establish its North American headquarters in New Jersey.
In terms of compensation, currently only the Interior Design position and the IT Operations Engineer position have annual salaries marked in the screenshots, while salary information for the remaining positions has not yet been made public. It is worth noting that the job description for the Tax Manager position clearly states that the employee will report directly to the CFO of Luckin Coffee.
In addition, the tweet also mentioned that previously a social media user said Luckin launched North American employee recruitment through headhunters in October 2024, while LinkedIn information shows that an HR Deputy Director joined in January of this year. From this, it can be inferred that Luckin's North American team is still in the early stage of building "company infrastructure."
At the end of October 2024, the UK's Financial Times reported that people familiar with the matter revealed that Luckin was planning to enter the U.S. market, and said it had already been building its supply chain and formulating market strategy, and could enter the United States as early as 2025. This news quickly attracted attention from all sides, and Luckin's move to place advertisements during NBA games was also seen by the outside world as a signal of its intention to enter the U.S. market.
At the time, people familiar with the matter also revealed that Luckin would target cities such as New York where Chinese students and tourists gather, hoping to use its experience in affordable coffee accumulated in the Chinese market to continue its low-price strategy in the United States and launch drinks priced at around 2 to 3 U.S. dollars. However, in response to the widely circulated reports, Luckin told Jiemian News that it would not comment.
But in an October report by Xiaoshidai, Luckin CFO Guo Jinyi told it, "We are actively exploring opportunities in the United States and other markets," and pointed out that considering the mature and highly competitive U.S. coffee market, it will make prudent decisions when implementing its expansion strategy, advancing overseas business in a "more suitable way and with more flexible strategies."
Looking now at the recruitment information posted by Luckin, these positions are all located in Secaucus, New Jersey, USA, less than 10 kilometers from Manhattan, New York, which seems to echo the information previously disclosed by people familiar with the matter, and may also mean that Luckin's first North American store will give priority to U.S. East Coast cities such as New York, rather than California, where Chinese overseas chain brands are concentrated.
However, although Luckin recently entered Malaysia and opened two stores in succession, the company has not disclosed more information about expanding into overseas markets since then. Therefore, whether the next step in its overseas plan is to continue deepening its presence in the Southeast Asian market or shift to North America across the ocean remains to be seen.
Image source: online screenshot
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
