Chinese coffee chain Luckin has reached a milestone of opening its 10,000th store in China, nearly three years after a major fraud scandal. The 10,000th store is located in Xiamen, a port city on China’a southeast coast. As part of the coffee chain’s celebration of the milestone, customers could buy one Luckin coffee for a discounted price of RMB 9.9 (less than $1.50) per week during the store’s promotional period, according to an announcement on its official WeChat account. The Starbucks challenger admitted to fraudulent sales of up to $310 million in 2020, and settled fraud charges with a $180 million penalty fine. Despite the scandal, Luckin Coffee continued to expand in China with high-profile marketing campaigns and heavy discounts, achieving its first full-year profit in 2022, with an operating profit of RMB 1.16 billion. [Luckin Coffee, in Chinese]
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