Is supermarket giant Fat Donglai planning to build houses next?
On May 20th, the "Dream City" project under Fat Donglai started construction in Xuchang. On the same day, founder Yu Donglai posted a group photo of the groundbreaking ceremony on his personal social media account with the caption: "The time when the dream begins, the place where the dream begins..."
Image source: Yu Donglai's personal social media account
Four days later, Fat Donglai's real - estate layout revealed new progress: this time it will enter the residential field.
On the evening of May 24th, Yu Donglai revealed in a live - stream that after the "Dream City" is built, if there is still space, Fat Donglai will build several residential communities. Part of them will be used to house Fat Donglai employees, and the other part will be open to the public.
Regarding issues such as the construction standards and pricing of future residential communities, Yu Donglai mentioned that information such as the architectural design, building materials, and construction quality of the project will be publicly announced. Without disrupting the market, a reasonable profit will be taken for sales. At the same time, the construction cost, selling price, property management fees, etc. will also be completely transparent to safeguard the rights and interests of every resident.
However, this residential project will not be launched in the short term. It is only possible to focus on it after the "Dream City" is completed. Based on past experience, the first stop will most likely be in Xuchang, Fat Donglai's home base.
The "Dream City" project mentioned above can be said to be the largest single - project investment since Fat Donglai was established. The total investment is about 6.5 billion yuan, the total construction area is nearly 580,000 square meters, and it is expected to open to the public in September 2029.
Image source: Xuchang Natural Resources and Planning Bureau
Image source: Xuchang Natural Resources and Planning Bureau
The first - phase project, which has just started construction, covers an area of about 467,000 square meters. The main building has a total of 8 floors and is mainly a commercial complex, covering business forms such as department stores, supermarkets, and cinemas. According to Yu Donglai, after the project is completed, the Times Square store currently located in the center of Xuchang will be relocated here. As for the second - phase project, it will focus on the construction of supporting facilities such as a happiness lecture hall, a cultural center, a grand theater, and a high - end hotel.
From commercial real estate to the future residential field, the reason why Fat Donglai dares to put forward such a grand plan lies in its continuously increasing revenue.
Announcement data shows that in 2025, Fat Donglai's annual sales reached 23.531 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 38.71%. Looking back three years, Fat Donglai's sales data was quite impressive. In 2022, its sales were only about 7 billion yuan; in 2023, it soared by 53%, breaking through the 10 - billion - yuan mark for the first time; in 2024, it increased by 58.54% year - on - year to 16.964 billion yuan.
Currently, Fat Donglai has a total of 14 stores, of which 11 are located in Xuchang (including Times Square and Angel City), and 3 are located in Xinxiang.
Image source: Yu Donglai's personal social media account
Just in October this year, the Fat Donglai store in Zhengzhou, which has been postponed twice, is expected to open. The store is located in the east square of Zhengzhou High - speed Railway East Station, and the overall design will present a three - dimensional space of "above - ground park + underground business". In the underground business area, a partition design of "north supermarket, south business" is adopted: the north side includes supermarkets, tobacco and alcohol gift areas, etc.; the south side is mainly areas such as coffee, brand restaurants, and bakeries.
Rendering of Fat Donglai's Zhengzhou store. Image source: Yu Donglai's personal social media account
Rendering of Fat Donglai's Zhengzhou store. Image source: Yu Donglai's personal social media account
This article is from the WeChat public account "Future Habitat", author: Future Habitat. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.