SOKO Fitness & Spa Group, Inc. offers denizens of Northeastern China and suburban Beijing a complete wellness solution consisting of programs, exercise, education, nutrition and other products via their beauty salons and fitness centers.
The Company disclosed details today regarding plans to expand operations geographically beyond its former focus of developing in Tier-2 Chinese cities, and said it will begin to select suburban areas of Tier-1 cities with under-served markets in order to capitalize on growth potential and secure robust returns on investment for the Company’s shareholders.
Tier-1 cities are large metropolises with 10 million or more residents, and Tier-2 cities are those with 1-7M people, according to the Company’s definition.
Over the last 17 years, the Company has grown its business in such Tier-2 markets as Harbin and Shenyang, where strong demand and a lack of equally strong rivals allowed SOKO to develop its strategy of cross-selling the beauty salon, spa and fitness center services it offers.
Moving forward, the strategy will be to identify and develop under-served markets in Tier-1 cities, as heralded by the Dec. 09 acquisition of controlling interest in two major Beijing fitness centers.
This broadened geographical expansion strategy will be defined by the same suite of services the Company is so well-known for, and will also include new complimentary services such as medical beauty centers, helping to solidify the brand identity and generate additional business for future developments, such as those planned for other suburban areas of Beijing.
CEO of SOKO Tong Liu spoke about the Company’s continued targeting of Tier-2 markets, which he said have “the most potential for return on investment”, but also acknowledged the soundness of pushing out into larger markets where significant opportunities exist as well.
The pursuit of strategic growth into markets like Beijing, in areas with low penetration from competitors, is consistent with the Company’s core expansion strategy, according to Tong Liu, who expressed the need to increase the scope of services to “include beauty and aesthetics in addition to fitness centers” as SOKO embarks on this undertaking.
Mr. Tong Liu pointed out how this service expansion would complement cross-marketing of the full range of SOKO-branded services, and said that he believed the Company would see success in executing this core strategy similar to that experienced in markets like Harbin and Shenyang.
With over 2,000 members at its two new Beijing locations, located in the heavily populated residential and commercial Huilongguan district of some 300k residents, SOKO is proud to offer the same variety, such as high-end exercise equipment and state-of-the-art facilities, it is known for elsewhere.
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