New growth phase for ENZO

11 May '10

3 min read

LJ International Inc., a leading jewelry manufacturer and retailer, announced that its ENZO retail division has opened six new stores within the past two weeks. The ENZO retail chain now totals 101 stores. Eight additional ENZO stores are scheduled to open by the end of May 2010, bringing the total store count to 109.

All of the recent and scheduled openings are in cities of the People's Republic of China. Cities and provinces of the new store locations are listed by period of opening:

Stores (4) Opened During Last Week of April, 2010:

• Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province
• Zhangjiajie, Jiangsu Province
• Shanghai (2 stores)

Stores (2) Opened on May 1, 2010:

• ShaoXing, Zhejiang Province
• Qingdao, Shandong Province

Stores (8) to be Opened by May 31, 2010:

• Xi'an, ShanXi Province
• Zhengzhou, Henan Province
• Nanjing, Jiangsu Province
• Wuxi, Jiangsu Province
• Nanchang, Jiangxi Province
• Shanghai
• Shenyang, Liaoning Province
• Chengdu, Sichuan Province

With recent and upcoming openings, ENZO has resumed its expansion after an approximately two-year period of store consolidation, brand-building and efficiency improvements. As previously announced, ENZO's parent company, LJ International Inc., has set a target of opening approximately 100 new ENZO stores by year-end, 2011. At that time, the retail chain's total count will be approximately 200 stores. Given ENZO's China-based clientele, all stores will be launched in the Company's current market area of China, Hong Kong and Macau.

CEO Declares Start of "New Growth Phase"
"Announcement marks the beginning of a major new growth phase for ENZO," said Yu Chuan Yih, Chairman and CEO of LJ International Inc. "Over the past two years, ENZO has produced impressive results with existing stores. Streamlined efficiencies and tactical management have ensured ENZO stores run profitably. Results include consistent revenue growth of more than 30% and comparable-store growth well into the double-digits. Now ENZO will be utilizing these proven and highly-effective retailing methods to deploy an ongoing planned store rollout. It is particularly worth noting that ENZO's expansion is geographically broad. We are not simply adding more stores in China's largest cities, but aggressively seeking new consumers in second-tier cities where population growth is significant and where our target market of the affluent middle-class is strongly emerging."

ENZO's Market Reach Detailed
The recent and scheduled store openings will give ENZO a presence in 34 cities and 18 provinces of the People Republic of China, plus Hong Kong and Macau. Cities with the largest store count will be Shanghai (20) and Beijing (12). ENZO stores are sited in several of China's largest upscale malls, including Parkson Shopping Center (Shanghai), Intime Lotte Department Store (Tianjin), and Wangfujing Department Store (Beijing). New locations were chosen to provide convenient access and attractive shopping destinations for newly-affluent consumers (growing middle-class) who make up ENZO's primary target market.

LJ International Inc

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