In recent years, mom-and-pop stores have had a hard time. In 2020, there were approximately 6.6 million such stores nationwide, but by now, industry experts predict only about 4.2 million remain. Every store owner knows all too well the challenges physical stores have faced during this period.
However, in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, we observed a set of anomalous data: multiple community stores doubled their revenue and saw customer traffic surge within just one month, with some stores even achieving a counter-trend miracle of growth exceeding 1030%.
New Distribution went to the front lines to try to unravel this puzzle: in such a harsh business environment, how did these small stores manage to stage a comeback?
During our market visits, New Distribution noticed that an industry conference concerning the future of physical retail was successfully held at the Tongfu Rural Revitalization Park in Tazhuang, Zhengding, Hebei. The summit revealed the true answer to how physical stores can break through.
Community Store Competition Evolves, Tongfu Sets a New Direction
The traditional business logic of "opening the door and waiting for customers" is increasingly untenable for community stores.
The industry is entering a new phase: the competition among future community stores will no longer be about who can endure longer, but who understands operations better, who grasps traffic better, and who knows consumers better.
On May 9, Tongfu Group, a leading entity enterprise deeply rooted in the livelihood consumer sector, grandly opened the "First Summit on Revitalizing Physical Stores." The summit, themed "Comprehensive Empowerment for Physical Stores, Dual Growth in Customer Traffic and Sales," invited authoritative experts in policy research, practical mentors in physical operations, first-line brand manufacturers, and representatives of over 800 quality store operators nationwide to jointly explore effective paths for physical store transformation and breakthrough.
At the summit, Tongfu officially released its nationwide physical revitalization solution—the "Revitalize Physical Stores - Tongfu Premium Store Flagship Project."
This project focuses on small and medium-sized community stores ranging from 150 to 800 square meters. Through five core modules—scenario creation, product optimization, fresh food revenue enhancement, digital empowerment, and operational coaching—it systematically empowers traditional stores to become the most vibrant and competitive consumer centers in their surrounding business districts, highlighting the core advantages of "practical, replicable, low-risk, and high-return."
Coincidentally, in April this year, six departments including the Ministry of Commerce and the Cyberspace Administration of China jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Better Serving the Real Economy and Promoting High-Quality Development of E-commerce," known in the industry as the "16 Measures for the Real Economy."
This policy sends a clear signal: the state is re-emphasizing community commerce and the building of real economy capabilities, with particular emphasis on two things: first, promoting digital upgrading of small and medium-sized entities; second, promoting online-offline integration to enhance community service capabilities.
This aligns closely with Tongfu's "Revitalize Physical Stores - Tongfu Premium Store Flagship Project." Therefore, the summit attracted high industry attention because it provided a new answer that is being validated—in today's physical retail environment, relying solely on individual efforts is increasingly difficult to counter market changes. Community stores must adopt a path of branding, chain operation, and systematization.
Tongfu is Redoing Community Stores from Scratch
So the question arises: how can community stores achieve branding, chain operation, and systematization?
It is understood that the Tongfu Premium Store Flagship model, heavily promoted by Tongfu Group, focuses on community stores of 150-800 square meters, rebuilding competitiveness through a unique model.
It also collaborates with Douyin (TikTok China) to create a nationwide cloud chain, converting public domain traffic within a 3-kilometer radius into private domain customer flow for stores, giving community stores true "online customer acquisition capabilities."
Tongfu has abandoned the industry's common problem of "emphasizing opening, neglecting operations," providing full-cycle, normalized operational support for stores. From store positioning, traffic flow design, opening training, marketing planning, training supervision, and other dimensions, it equips community stores with the ability to sustain operations.
It is evident that what Tongfu's model truly solves is not just "how to renovate" community stores, but also "how to continue making money after renovation."
Backed by a "Big Tree," a Batch of Community Stores Are Being Rebuilt
Meilexian Supermarket is a long-established community store that has been operating for seven or eight years. After adjustments in March this year, it officially reopened as a "Tongfu Premium Store." According to Manager Zhang, before joining Tongfu, the average daily turnover was only over 8,000 yuan, barely exceeding 10,000 yuan on weekends.
After joining Tongfu, during the opening period, the average daily turnover surged to nearly 70,000 yuan, and now stabilizes at around 20,000 yuan, more than doubling previous performance. The average daily order count increased from 400-500 to 1,200-1,500 on regular days, and exceeded 2,000-3,000 during promotional periods. Daily member recharges range from 3,000 to 5,000 yuan.
Manager Zhang said happily, "Now the staff has increased from 4 to 9, with clear division of labor in the kitchen, cashier, stocking, and sales, but we still can't keep up. The customer traffic has completely picked up."
Another store, Xingbei Supermarket, experienced a similar transformation.
This 290-square-meter community store, operating for 8 years, had been stuck in a state of "selling everything but making no money." Boss Gao admitted that when business was at its worst, he was even preparing to close the store.
After joining Tongfu, the store restructured its product mix, added fresh food scenarios, and began live streaming, community building, and online operations.
During the first three days of opening, total sales exceeded 310,000 yuan, averaging nearly 100,000 yuan per day. Now, daily sales stabilize at around 20,000 yuan, doubling performance. More impressively, online sales grew from nearly zero to 30% of total sales, becoming one of the store's key growth drivers.
Now, Boss Gao not only kept his old store but is also clearing inventory at his other 500-square-meter store, preparing to fully upgrade it according to the Tongfu Premium Store Flagship model.
From Meilexian to Xingbei Supermarket, the two stores differ in size, location, and owner background, but their transformation trajectories are highly consistent.
Their success proves that the path to breakthrough for community stores lies not in stubbornly fighting alone, but in leveraging leading platforms, through model reconstruction, capability upgrading, and scenario recreation, to achieve the transformation from traditional small stores to modern community commercial entities.
As Meilexian's boss Zhang emphasized: "Under the big tree, it's cool. Tongfu has strength, a team, and a systematic system. Following Tongfu gives us confidence, hope, and a brighter future."
Final Thoughts
Under the tide of the times, the survival model of community stores relying on "opening the door and waiting for customers, fighting alone" is gradually losing its advantage amid consumption changes and industry competition. In the future, the community stores that truly have a chance to survive will be those that are branded, chained, digitalized, and integrated online and offline.
These are not shortcomings that individual stores can address alone. A single store is like duckweed; together we form a forest. An individual is a glimmer; together we become a torch.
Tongfu brings together millions of small physical stores scattered on the streets, leveraging its strong platform strength to integrate resources, connect chains, and share capabilities. At a critical window period of favorable policies, mature models, and released dividends, it enables every small community store to take off. We look forward to more terminal stores joining the Tongfu Premium Store Flagship system to jointly witness the new glory of physical retail.
Note: This article is a business cooperation case observation. The operational data, store cases, and project introductions mentioned in the article are compiled from interviews with the stores, enterprise materials, and on-site visits. Actual operating results may vary due to factors such as city, business district, area, customer base, investment costs, and operational capabilities. This article does not constitute a franchise, investment, or return promise.