---
title: "County-Town Hema Stores Become a 'Filial Piety Standard' for Young Shoppers"
description: "During the Spring Festival, a Xiaohongshu user from Zhuji, Zhejiang, marveled at the popularity of Hema in her county town, noting that the store couldn't restock fast enough. Many county-town Hema stores are experiencing similar success, with some opening early on Chinese New Year's Eve to accommodate crowds. This trend highlights the growing appeal of Hema in lower-tier markets, particularly in the Yangtze River Delta."
author: "DT商业观察"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2025-03-30"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-DuXqQNbdEAK6kskP-GRvw"
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# County-Town Hema Stores Become a 'Filial Piety Standard' for Young Shoppers

> During the Spring Festival, a Xiaohongshu user from Zhuji, Zhejiang, marveled at the popularity of Hema in her county town, noting that the store couldn't restock fast enough. Many county-town Hema stores are experiencing similar success, with some opening early on Chinese New Year's Eve to accommodate crowds. This trend highlights the growing appeal of Hema in lower-tier markets, particularly in the Yangtze River Delta.

"At 3 p.m. in the county-town Hema, there's no time to restock; Hema itself didn't expect the supply to fall short of demand."
During the Spring Festival, a Xiaohongshu user from Zhuji, Zhejiang, posted about Hema's popularity in their area. There are many county-town Hema stores with business as booming as Zhuji's. On Chinese New Year's Eve, the Yiwu Hema opened early at 7 a.m. (usually 9:30 a.m.), and the seafood section was already crowded with shoppers; by 10:30 a.m., the crowded seafood area was closed to shopping carts. Earlier, when Hema opened in Changshu, Jiangsu, in April last year, the tasting queues were long, and it was said that "one store revitalized the entire business district." In fact, when Hema first entered county towns in January 2018, it chose to open in Kunshan's Wuyue Plaza, but that attempt was unsuccessful, and the store closed in May of the following year. At that time, Hema stated it would open more stores in Suzhou and Kunshan in the future. Now, Hema stores in county towns are finally being overwhelmed. We're curious: who loves going to county-town Hema? What do they think of it? How do county-town Hema stores differ from those in first- and second-tier cities?

**Six New County Towns in a Year: Two Types of People Love County-Town Hema Most**
Over the past year, Hema, which has always had East China as its stronghold, has targeted county towns represented by county-level cities in the Yangtze River Delta. As of the Snake Year Spring Festival, Hema has opened 72 new stores in nearly a year, entering 21 new cities and regions, of which 8 are county-level or below, accounting for more than one-third. **Among them, county-level cities in the Yangtze River Delta are the focus of Hema's expansion in the past year.** Hema has successively opened six Hema Fresh stores in Changshu, Tongxiang, Yiwu, Zhuji, Deqing, and Zhangjiagang, and recently opened a new 4,000-square-meter store in Shengze Town, Wujiang District, Suzhou, known for its textile industry. Based on social media content and interviews, we found that consumers who love county-town Hema mainly fall into two categories. **One type treats Hema as a "county-town Disneyland," with "browsing" as the main purpose.** Xiaohongshu blogger @一口都别吃 "bravely charged" into the scene when Zhuji Hema opened, and in her post that day, she emphasized that Hema's tastings are generous and you can spend a whole day there. (@一口都别吃 recommends Zhuji Hema on Xiaohongshu) For @coco, accompanying his parents to Hema has become a new "family team-building" activity this year. Even without buying expensive items, going to Hema together has become his secret to maintaining his "dutiful son" persona regularly. During their visits, coco's parents not only check out what's new and fun at Hema but also pay attention to prices. A few years ago, when coco took his parents on a trip, they visited Ole' (a premium supermarket under China Resources Vanguard) in Hang Lung Plaza. His father was impressed by the prices of imported snacks at Ole', but when faced with Hema's shelves, his father said, "The prices here are acceptable." The other type is genuinely there to spend, aiming for a better "essential" consumption experience, buying higher-quality, more cost-effective products. For example, Ms. V (pseudonym) from Changshu first encountered Hema through a store opening promotion at her community gate, and later became a regular because of Hema's seafood—"no shortchanging on weight, and they can kill it fresh, with sufficient oxygen for delivery."

**County Town vs. First-Tier City: How Do Hema Stores Differ?**
Hema's "entry" into county towns has sparked consumer enthusiasm but also some criticism. After Hema entered Yiwu, some netizens questioned why some items were priced higher than in Beijing stores. During the Spring Festival, young people returning from big cities noticed that "county-town Hema seems to have fewer products." We compared some product categories on the Hema APP for the Yiwu Tiandi store and the Shanghai Jiangqiao Wanda store (the former has long ranked TOP1 in sales among Zhejiang Hema stores; the latter is currently the largest Hema store in Jiading District, Shanghai) on February 25, and found that pricing and popular items were almost identical between county-town and first-tier city Hema stores; however, there was a significant difference in the number of products. Specifically, the pricing at Yiwu Tiandi Hema and Shanghai Jiangqiao Hema was nearly the same, with only a few items slightly more expensive in the county town. For example, 500g of yellow-skinned potatoes cost 4.19 yuan at Yiwu Hema but only 3.18 yuan in Shanghai. Additionally, popular items that sell well in first-tier cities also perform well in county towns. In the five major categories of vegetables and soy products, meat, poultry and eggs, seafood, dairy, and bakery, the top-selling item on that day was the same at both Yiwu and Shanghai Hema. **The only notable difference was the number of products. Except for meat, poultry, and eggs, county-town stores had fewer products in all other categories than first-tier city stores.**

Using February 25 single-day data as an example, Yiwu Hema had only about one-third and one-half the number of fruit and dairy products, respectively, compared to Shanghai Hema. However, **compared to the quantity of products, county-town consumers care more about the taste, price, and service of existing products.** One premise is that Hema has opened group-buying services on Douyin. After county-town Hema stores open, consumers can buy group-buying vouchers on Douyin, redeem them in-store, and leave reviews online. By examining Douyin reviews for Yiwu Hema, we found that among over 1,200 reviews, **more than 80% were positive, mainly praising Hema's fresh/delicious products and cheap/affordable prices.** A recent positive review said: "The price is affordable and cheap, averaging just over one yuan each." The reviewer purchased Hema's beef and paper-thin crust siomai, 6 pieces totaling 360g, at a group-buying price of 7.9 yuan (original price 13.9 yuan). **In the remaining 20% of negative or mixed reviews, complaints focused on poor quality and bad experience.** Among product reviews, there was a clear divide on the strawberry box cake: some thought it was delicious, while others said the strawberries were rotten. Pineapple also drew mixed reviews—some found it fresh and tasty, others said it was "very sour." Additionally, unpleasant odors (like cooking oil smell), untimely restocking, frequently changing product placement, limited payment methods, and lack of proper queue guidance for tastings were all reasons for negative reviews and why some were "turned off" by Hema. **County-town consumers not only want good value for money but also value the in-store experience, hoping for comfort, order, and warm service.** Despite this, the booming county-town stores have contributed impressive results for Hema. According to the "2024 Hema District Consumption Trend Insight Report," the Tongxiang store ranked TOP1 nationally in sales of rambutan, papaya, and golden mango; the Zhuji store's fruit cut sales set a Hema historical record; and the Yiwu store, since opening in July last year, has held the TOP1 sales position in Zhejiang for six consecutive months.

**Beyond Hema: Sam's Club and RT-Mart Also Target County Towns**
As mentioned earlier, East China has always been Hema's main battlefield. In January 2016, Hema Fresh opened its first store in Shanghai's Jinqiao Plaza. Currently, the total number of stores has exceeded 400, with half located in East China. One reason Hema targets Yangtze River Delta county towns is the advantage of the East China supply chain, sharing procurement resources, operational capabilities, and more. Another more important reason is that the GDP and spending power of these county towns are not to be underestimated. In fact, **before Hema entered these county towns, many players had already entered this market.** Chronologically, as early as 2006, Metro entered Jiangyin, and over the next seven years, opened stores in Cixi, Kunshan, Changshu, Zhangjiagang, and Yixing. Starting in 2020, Sam's Club began laying out in county towns, opening membership stores in Kunshan and Jinjiang, and in 2023, provided Sam's Club JSD (instant delivery) services in Changshu and Zhangjiagang. In 2024, RT-Mart's M membership store also entered county towns, choosing Jiangyin and Changshu. Additionally, Aldi has set its sights on this hot market, with its first county-level city store expected to open in Kunshan in May this year. **Although the entry times differ, the locations share a common feature: they are concentrated in the county towns of Suzhou and Wuxi, especially Changshu, Kunshan, Zhangjiagang, and Jiangyin.** These may seem ordinary, but they are actually powerful "hundred-billion-yuan counties." According to the "2024 Research on High-Quality Development of China's County Economy," in 2023, 59 "hundred-billion-yuan counties" contributed 7.6% of the national GDP, over 10% of the output value of industrial enterprises above designated size, and about 10% of specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprises, with only 1.2% of the country's total land area and 4.5% of its permanent population. Among the top 10 of the 59 counties with GDP exceeding 100 billion yuan are Kunshan, Jiangyin, Zhangjiagang, Changshu, Jinjiang, Taicang, Cixi, Longkou, Yixing, and Changsha County, with Yiwu ranking 11th. Therefore, when the Changshu Hema store opened, some netizens joked, "Is Changshu still a small county town?" implying that Changshu's economy and consumption levels are not low. (Image source: Xiaohongshu comment section) Indeed, compared to first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, these county towns have lower rent and labor costs, but their per capita GDP and consumption levels are already very close to those of surrounding first- and second-tier cities. To some extent, **the current "downward expansion" of Metro, Sam's Club, and Hema can be described as "pseudo-downward expansion."** For residents of these hundred-billion-yuan counties, Hema's arrival is not particularly surprising; it's just another option. In our interviews, some people assign different "functions" to different supermarkets based on price, while others are loyal to one to meet most of their needs. Ms. V from Changshu told DT Business Observer that she is a regular at all these supermarkets: Hema for seafood, bakery, and snacks; Metro mainly for alcohol; RT-Mart for its discounted near-expiry products; and she makes a trip to Sam's Club in Suzhou every few months for bulk purchases, also using Sam's Club JSD regularly. Huan Di (pseudonym), 36, prefers Hema. First, because his home in Zhangjiagang is less than a 10-minute electric bike ride from Hema; second, because "going to RT-Mart, you spend a few hundred without buying much," but Hema offers 7-9% discounts on bakery and daily fresh products after 8 p.m., and he and his friends have an 8.8% discount card, so Huan Di visits Hema 4 to 5 times a week, mainly buying discounted fruits and cakes. He also uses Sam's Club JSD, but less frequently, mainly for daily necessities like tissues.

**Final Thoughts**
Currently, in addition to Hema Fresh, Hema's business formats include Hema X Membership Store and Hema Outlet Store. The former requires an annual membership fee of 258 yuan, while the latter aims for "everyday low prices, every item a hit," and is also gradually entering county towns. Hema and other membership-based supermarkets' "downward move" seems to be an inevitable trend. On one hand, China has more than 2,800 county-level administrative regions, accounting for nearly 40% of the national economy. Besides the "hundred-billion-yuan counties" already entered, other county towns are also "hungry." Ms. Zhang, who works in Hangzhou after graduation, told DT Business Observer that her hometown Huoqiu County (Lu'an City, Anhui Province) currently has no Hema. When her friend visited her in Hangzhou last year, even with a tight schedule, she made a special trip to Hema to buy bakery items and juice to take home. Ms. Zhang is confident in her hometown's spending power; at least during the Spring Festival, she had to queue for four hours for Haidilao in Huoqiu. On the other hand, in fiscal year 2024, Hema's overall GMV exceeded 59 billion yuan, up from 55 billion yuan the previous fiscal year. More importantly, during the reporting period, most Hema self-operated stores that had been operating for over a year achieved positive cash flow. This may also be one of the reasons Hema continues to expand downward.


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