7-Eleven wants to open 500 stores in Beijing in five years

US-based convenience store giant 7-Eleven Inc has plans to open as many as 500 outlets in Beijing over the next five years, a company executive said yesterday.

The company said it has granted a license to a new joint-venture company consisting of 7-Eleven Japan Co, Taiwan-based President Chain Store Corp (統一超商) and a Chinese partner that has yet to be determined, to operate in the greater Beijing area, said Bob Jenkins, international vice president of 7-Eleven.

But officials from President Chain Store and its parent company, Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), were low key yesterday regarding the deal.

"We haven't received formal notification from 7-Eleven and we haven't finalized any agreements," said Yao Jean-yves (姚力仁), a spokesman at Uni-President Enterprises.

Attending the opening of the 100th 7-Eleven store in Guangzhou on Wednesday, Jenkins said the Texas-based company expects to open its first store in Beijing early next year.

Jenkins did not specify the size of the stake to be held by each partner, but he said the company has appointed a special independent committee to evaluate the arrangement and anticipates a decision by the end of the year.

The plan still needs approval from 7-Eleven's board as well as from Beijing, he said.

Also bidding to be 7-Eleven's partner in Beijing were Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group Co and Hong Kong's Dairy Farm International Holdings Inc.

Jenkins said Dairy Farm and Charoen Pokphand will have other opportunities in China as 7-Eleven expands throughout the country.

He indicated that the convenience-store operation may soon set its sights on Shanghai, but would not get into specifics.