Meiyijia needs to undergo a thorough treatment to heal its wounds.

Questioning How AI · Meiyijia Franchise Model Could Trigger Management Crisis

Produced by｜New Product Brief Finance

Author｜Wu Wenwu

With 40,000 stores, “King of Convenience Stores” — Meiyijia, was featured on 315 for selling fake cigarettes.

Clearly, after years of rapid growth against the trend, Meiyijia needs to heal its wounds and make new explorations and changes.

01 Meiyijia on 315

In Guangdong and many other regions across the country, Meiyijia convenience stores are everywhere. This year’s 315, however, exposed explosive news: selling fake cigarettes.

It all started on March 14, when the “Guangdong 3.15 Evening Gala” revealed multiple Meiyijia stores suspected of selling counterfeit cigarettes, sparking nationwide attention and discussion.

Initially, an investigation team conducted undercover visits in Guangzhou, Foshan, and Dongguan, purchasing problematic cigarettes from 10 Meiyijia stores.

Subsequently, regulatory authorities launched strict inspections, jointly inspecting the stores involved and surrounding outlets, and conducting comprehensive checks across Guangdong province.

According to reports, by 3:00 PM on March 15, 6,325 Meiyijia stores had been inspected, 306 illegal cases related to tobacco were investigated, involving 306 stores, with nearly 1.4 million illegal cigarettes seized.

Many netizens expressed that they weren’t surprised by the news of fake cigarettes being sold at Meiyijia.

There was even a joking comment online claiming “Meiyijia has its own cigarette factory”… Later, a Meiyijia PR official told media that this was untrue.

The topic “Meiyijia selling fake cigarettes” quickly trended on social media, with continuous news reports, thrusting this low-profile, quietly profitable company into the spotlight.

As the controversy intensified, Meiyijia issued an apology statement on March 15 via its official account regarding some stores’ tobacco sales issues.

Meiyijia stated it would strictly handle the involved stores, conduct nationwide special inspections, and improve feedback channels to accept social supervision.

On March 16, New Product Brief Finance saw on short video platforms that the cigarette shelves in some Meiyijia stores had been almost emptied, with staff telling customers: “We’re no longer selling.”

Of course, not all Meiyijia stores were affected. Our investigation found two stores in Dongguan’s Southeast town still had full cigarette shelves, unaffected.

The high attention and heated discussion about the fake cigarette sales at Meiyijia stem from multiple reasons: First, cigarettes are under strict regulation, making fake cigarette sales a hot news topic. Second, as a leading convenience store chain, any scandal impacts its reputation significantly. Third, fake cigarettes provoke strong anger among smokers and middle-aged men.

Although 315 has passed, the news about Meiyijia selling fake cigarettes continues to generate buzz.

02 The Rapid Rise of Meiyijia, “Going Crazy”

Meiyijia is a homegrown company from Dongguan, now a well-known local brand representing the city.

In 1990, Dongguan Sugar and Alcohol Group founded the Meijia Supermarket brand. At that time, in the context of traditional small shops, Meijia Supermarket quickly rose to industry prominence, adopting a chain model with unified procurement, branding, and management.

In 1997, based on the transformation of Meijia Supermarket, Meiyijia was established to develop convenience store operations. In 2000, it separated from Meijia Supermarket for independent operation. Later, Meiyijia opened franchise opportunities, entering a period of rapid expansion.

By January 2007, the number of Meiyijia stores exceeded 1,000. Over the next decade, it surpassed 10,000 stores.

The growth accelerated further: by August 2020, total stores exceeded 20,000; by November 2022, over 30,000.

According to the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, in 2023, Meiyijia overtook Sinopec’s EasyJoy to become the industry leader, maintaining its top position since then. By the end of 2024, with 37,943 stores and annual sales of 55.8 billion yuan, it ranked first on the China Chain Store & Franchise Association’s “Top 100 Convenience Stores in China” list for three consecutive years.

In July 2025, Meiyijia’s 40,000th store opened in Nanning, Guangxi, officially entering the “40,000 Store Era,” cementing its status as the “King of Convenience Stores.”

In recent years, despite the increasingly difficult environment for brick-and-mortar stores, Meiyijia has continued to accelerate store openings, defying the trend and growing rapidly.

Its success is mainly due to its significantly lower franchise costs compared to Japanese convenience chains, precise targeting of lower-tier markets for new growth, and its mature, powerful supply chain and digital systems supporting high efficiency.

Compared to many high-cost branded chains, Meiyijia’s franchise fees are relatively low. Many other chains tend to be short-lived, while convenience stores serve neighborhood, street, and surrounding communities with long-term demand. High-frequency categories like alcohol, beverages, cigarettes, and snacks ensure sustainable profitability, making convenience stores a long-term business.

Therefore, many aspiring entrepreneurs with limited funds see franchising with Meiyijia as a relatively low-risk small business.

If a convenience store is a well-known brand, located in a high-traffic or densely populated area, it can indeed generate good business.

Although some Meiyijia stores have closed, new ones continue to open. If another brand or non-franchise family-run convenience store closes, it’s often replaced quickly by a Meiyijia store.

Unexpectedly, the “King of Convenience Stores” was caught in the 2026 315 incident for selling fake cigarettes, with a surprisingly large quantity, plunging into a storm.

03 Meiyijia Needs to Heal Its Wounds

Undoubtedly, in terms of scale, brand influence, and reputation—especially in chain branding, supply chain development, and digital systems—Meiyijia has been very successful.

However, the recent 315 incident, confirming the sale of fake cigarettes, has ruthlessly exposed a hidden side of Meiyijia’s rapid growth.

As previously mentioned, Meiyijia’s model of low-threshold franchising, light management, and supply chain margin differences allowed it to keep expanding rapidly. This facilitated its growth but also revealed flaws in its franchise and control systems, involving multiple issues.

In the view of New Product Brief Finance, while maintaining growth momentum, Meiyijia must address the shortcomings and flaws of its current model—essentially, it needs to “scrape the bone to heal the wound.”

First, Meiyijia should strengthen store compliance management, especially for new franchise stores, and improve training on compliance concepts.

Its low franchise fee, minimal deposit, and monthly management fee of only 1,000 yuan (without commissions) attract many inexperienced small shop owners, individual entrepreneurs, and unemployed middle-aged people.

This leads to uneven quality among franchisees, some pursuing short-term profits and risking selling counterfeit goods. Therefore, Meiyijia must invest more in compliance training for stores.

Second, it should enhance store compliance oversight through regular patrols, random checks, and investigations.

Although Meiyijia has its own quality control system, the recent exposure reveals deficiencies in management and control, especially regarding tobacco products. Strengthening strict management of tobacco and other regulated products is necessary.

Third, Meiyijia should optimize and diversify its product mix to help franchisees earn more.

Currently, its main categories—tobacco, alcohol, snacks, daily necessities—have lower gross margins than competitors like 7-Eleven or Lawson. Tobacco sales contribute 30-40% of revenue but are difficult to control, creating gray areas for franchisee profit recovery.

Optimizing product categories can provide consumers with more choices and increase franchisee earnings.

Fourth, Meiyijia should vigorously develop its own branded products.

It has established the Meiyijia Good Things Pyramid, with exclusive products at the top, developed in partnership with suppliers. This focus on private label products is already underway.

In the era of retail brands developing private labels, expanding its own products, including trendy and popular items, can improve product quality control, reduce procurement costs, and increase profit margins, benefiting both stores and consumers.

Fifth, Meiyijia should seek new growth drivers beyond its current models.

It currently operates various store formats—community stores, Pro stores, Plus stores, transit stores—where Plus and large community stores are essentially expanded convenience stores. Upgrading these to flagship or boutique stores could be a future direction.

Especially if Meiyijia increases its share of private label products, it can create second and third growth curves.

Overall, Meiyijia’s future strategy remains focused on expanding and strengthening its convenience store business. However, alongside rapid growth, it must also improve supply chain management and compliance controls.

The recent fake cigarette incident is a wake-up call—Meiyijia must reflect deeply and heal its wounds. For all franchise brands, this event serves as a cautionary lesson.

More importantly, Meiyijia needs to explore new businesses, innovate, and adapt continuously.

(This article does not constitute any investment advice)

Author’s note: Personal opinions for reference only