What does the CoCo Qingyuan closure say about opening costs?

CoCo, the tea chain founded in Taiwan in 1997, has withdrawn from Qingyuan, Guangdong. The brand's mini-program now shows no stores in the city after the City Plaza branch stopped operating on July 1. The closure follows years of intensifying competition from newer chains, and social media users report nearby shops disappearing across other areas too.

CoCo entered mainland China in 2007 with a first store in Shanghai and later expanded to many cities. Reported closures now outnumber remaining outlets, and observers point to market conditions, product competitiveness, and operating costs. For anyone weighing how much it costs to open a coffee shop, the case shows fixed overhead and competition matter as much as the initial outlay.

Recently, consumers in Qingyuan, Guangdong, discovered that the mini-program of the chain tea beverage brand CoCo都可 no longer shows any stores in the area, meaning the brand has quietly withdrawn from the Qingyuan market. As a veteran tea beverage brand founded in 1997 in Taiwan, China, CoCo都可 once accompanied a generation as they grew up, and its classic "Three Brothers Milk Tea" and refreshing "Passion Fruit Double Punch" were favorites for many. However, in recent years, competition in the tea beverage sector has intensified, with emerging brands such as Chagee and Tea Yanyuese constantly appearing. Although CoCo都可 has carried out co-branding campaigns and overseas expansion, the results seem to have fallen short of expectations. Many users on social platforms have reported that nearby stores have quietly disappeared, and data show that the number of closures has exceeded the number of existing stores. What exactly caused this brand, once bustling with customers, to fall into a wave of closures? This article will analyze from the perspectives of the market environment, product competitiveness, and operating costs.

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Recently, customers in Qingyuan, Guangdong, opened the mini-program of the chain tea beverage brand CoCo都可, intending to order a cup of milk tea to satisfy their cravings, only to unexpectedly discover that the brand had silently withdrawn from Qingyuan's tea beverage market.

This discovery shocked many loyal fans, who wondered when exactly the brand had closed all its Qingyuan stores. One netizen posted a screenshot of a chat record showing that after the CoCo都可 City Plaza store ceased operations starting July 1, the brand's mini-program showed "No Stores" for Qingyuan City, meaning all CoCo都可 stores in Qingyuan had been closed.

Overnight, the familiar orange-and-white sign was removed by construction workers, and CoCo都可 could no longer be found anywhere in Qingyuan. Many users were both surprised and regretful about this. It is understood that CoCo都可 is a chain tea beverage brand originating from Taiwan, China, founded in 1997; it began entering the mainland China market in 2007, with its first store in Shanghai, and then gradually expanded to many cities across the country.

Before brands like Heytea and Nayuki emerged, CoCo都可, as a veteran tea beverage shop, could be said to have accompanied a generation through their youth. The classic "Three Brothers Milk Tea" and the refreshing "Passion Fruit Double Punch" were the white moonlight in the hearts of regular customers, who would buy a cup every few days to satisfy their cravings and relive the taste in their memories.

However, in recent years, the tea beverage industry has developed rapidly, and brands such as Chagee and Tea Yanyuese have sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain in front of consumers, making competition in this sector increasingly fierce. In order to attract more users' attention, CoCo都可 also engaged in co-branding activities and opened overseas stores like other brands, but these marketing strategies seem to have failed to achieve the expected results.

At the same time, more and more users on social platforms have posted that their nearby CoCo都可 stores had quietly disappeared, with the original storefronts taken over by other brands, many of which were old stores that had been operating locally for seven or eight years. Data from Jihai Brand Monitoring also show that although CoCo都可 has not stopped its pace of store expansion, the brand's current number of closures has exceeded the number of existing stores, and more stores have been closed than newly opened in the past 90 days.

Seeing the tea beverage shop they frequented in their youth in such a state now, many old users are filled with emotion. Some regular customers feel that compared with the top brands now familiar to everyone, although CoCo都可 also attracts customers through co-branding cooperation, the brand's own popularity and the heat of the co-branded IPs are not enough, resulting in these promotional activities failing to make much of a splash and making it difficult to attract public attention and discussion.

In addition, many people pointed out that apart from a few signature products, CoCo都可's newly developed drinks either have flavors that users find hard to accept or are priced inappropriately. Moreover, there are now too many products on the market that can replace CoCo's classic drinks, so in the eyes of regular customers, the brand's various drinks lack a certain competitiveness compared with other brands.

Of course, in addition to the above reasons, some people believe that CoCo都可's successive withdrawal from urban commercial districts may be related to factors such as rising rent and operating costs. The combined effect of the external environment and internal brand reasons has led this tea beverage shop, once bustling with customers, into a wave of closures, forcing it to successively close unprofitable stores to cut losses in time, yet it has also gradually disappeared from the streets and alleys of cities, becoming a regret in the hearts of fans.

Image source: Internet

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