This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on July 21, 2022.
On July 21, Lady M's mainland China operator, Shunliyuan, announced through Lady M's official WeChat account that all Lady M stores in mainland China would cease operations.
Shunliyuan said it had introduced Lady M to mainland China in 2017 and had since invested heavily in three Lady M central factories, dozens of physical stores nationwide, and an online sales network.
Earlier in July, Lady M headquarters said in a PR release that, as the brand moved into its next decade, it would operate mainland China directly as part of its strategic plan.
Lady M Group CEO Ken Romaniszyn said the group would use a direct-operated model for mainland China, calling the region an important strategic market and saying the goal was to continue providing quality and service to consumers there.
Lady M entered mainland China in April 2017. Its former mainland licensee, Shunliyuan (Shanghai) Commercial Operation Management Co., Ltd., opened and operated more than 20 stores across Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai under a Lady M Group license agreement. The five-year license expired on April 9, 2022 and was not renewed.
Looking ahead, Romaniszyn said direct operation was a major strategic decision for Lady M Group. He said the group planned to reach mainland consumers directly, introduce more innovative concept stores, expand its product line, and continue presenting Lady M products with a craft-led approach.
Lady M was founded in New York City in 2001 and is led by CEO Ken Romaniszyn. The brand is known for mille crepes, combines French pastry techniques with Japanese influences, and has more than 50 stores worldwide. Its cakes are handmade by professional pastry chefs using selected premium ingredients.
In June 2022, Bloomberg reported that Lady M was seeking a new US$20 million funding round that could value the New York-based chain at US$600 million. People familiar with the matter said the financing was intended to support expansion in Asia, especially new stores in China, and could also support strategic acquisitions of other bakery chains.
Separately, Lianhe Zaobao, citing Chinese media reports including 21st Century Business Herald, Morning News, The Paper, and Xinmin, reported that Shanghai bakery chain Christine was facing widespread closure rumors, with many stores shut, wage and rent arrears, prepaid cards unable to be redeemed, and customer service calls unanswered.
Christine was founded in 1993 and at its peak operated 543 stores in Shanghai. Although Shanghai had broadly resumed normal production and life from June 2022, many Christine outlets in the city had still not reopened.
Reported examples included:
Reports also said warning tape had been placed around Christine's headquarters at 33 Jinshajiang Road after a pane of glass fell from the building. The entrance was closed and no people were seen entering or leaving.
On Shanghai's single-purpose prepaid card supervision platform, Shanghai Christine Food Co., Ltd. appeared on a risk-warning board with a notice about unpaid water, electricity, and gas fees.
A representative of the Shanghai Single-Purpose Prepaid Card Association said Christine had originally planned to resume business on July 1, then said it could not reopen stores because of the pandemic, suggesting weak operating conditions. Fan Lingen, executive vice chairman of the association, said on Wednesday, July 20, that relevant government departments had interviewed Christine's management and that the company had launched an emergency plan.
Christine's website displayed a brief notice saying its official online flagship store was temporarily closed due to the pandemic, with reopening time to be announced separately. It also said the recovery time for its 400 customer-service line would depend on pandemic-control policy, and directed customers to leave messages through an after-sales QQ account if the phone could not be reached. Media checks found the QQ account appeared to belong to an individual user and had not accepted a friend request by publication time.
Industry sources said that since the pandemic disruptions in 2022, some Christine stores had not resumed operations, using the pandemic as the stated reason. They also said Christine's performance guarantee insurance had expired and had not been renewed, meaning prepaid-card holders could find it difficult to obtain compensation if stores stopped operating.
Christine, once known as a leading listed bakery stock, had already shown deterioration in its annual results. On April 2, 2022, Hong Kong-listed Christine released its 2021 annual report. For the year from January 1 to December 31, 2021, revenue was RMB292 million, down 27.70% year on year, while net loss attributable to the parent company was RMB170 million, widening 54.14% year on year. It was Christine's ninth consecutive year of losses since 2013.
Note: financing, valuation, expansion, and listed-company figures above are historical as of the 2022 source article.