Episode Details

Alibaba Group's grocery retail arm Hema, also known as Freshippo, has officially exited the membership store business, shuttering all Hema X locations as it pivots toward more profitable formats amid intensifying competition in China's retail market.

阿里巴巴集团旗下的杂货零售部门盒马鲜生（也称为Freshippo）已正式退出会员店业务，关闭了所有盒马X门店，因为它在中国零售市场竞争加剧的情况下转向了更有利可图的模式。

Hema said that its Shanghai Senlan store, the last remaining Hema X location, will cease operations on Aug 31. The closure follows the shutdown of stores in Beijing; Suzhou and Nanjing of Jiangsu province in late July. After the Senlan store closure, Hema will no longer operate any stores under the membership model.

盒马表示，其上海森兰店是盒马X最后一家门店，将于8月31日停止运营。在北京门店关闭之后，该店也随之关闭；7月下旬，江苏省苏州市和南京市。森兰门店关闭后，盒马将不再以会员模式经营任何门店。

Customers holding Hema X memberships — priced at 258 yuan annually for Gold and 658 yuan for Diamond — will be eligible for refunds or can transfer benefits to other Hema formats.

持有盒马X会员资格的客户（金卡年费258元，钻石卡年费658元）将有资格获得退款，或者可以将福利转移到其他盒马格式。

The move signals the end of Hema's experiment with membership stores, which the company once positioned as a "second growth curve" akin to US membership giants Costco and Sam's Club.

此举标志着盒马对会员店的实验结束，该公司曾将会员店定位为类似于美国会员巨头好市多和山姆会员店的“第二增长曲线”。

The first Hema X opened in Shanghai in October 2020. By October 2023, the format had expanded to 10 stores across key cities.

第一家盒马鲜生X于2020年10月在上海开业。到2023年10月，该模式已扩展到主要城市的10家门店。

Hema management made a strategic call earlier this year to concentrate resources on Freshippo and Hema neighbor business, both of which are showing stronger growth momentum.

今年早些时候，盒马管理层发出战略呼吁，将资源集中在Freshippo和盒马NB（邻居业务）上，这两家公司都显示出更强劲的增长势头。

In an internal letter at the end of 2024, Hem