RELX Store Openings Too Close Together Spark Multiple Disputes

According to reports from Blue Hole New Consumption, on March 31, Blue Hole recently received multiple complaints from RELX store owners about new stores opening too close to their existing stores, affecting their business. Blue Hole conducted some research among store owners and found that this is indeed not an isolated incident.<\/p>

Let's take a look at what exactly is going on.<\/p>

Case 1: A RELX store opened 200 meters away from an existing store in 2019.<\/p>

According to store owner ZJ, his RELX store is located in Chengdu Huayu Plaza and is an older store opened in 2019, with a very early store number, situated in a residential area with commercial facilities. Recently, he noticed a new RELX store opened nearby, which he sees every day on his way home or to work, and he finds it very "annoying".<\/p>

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He finds two points annoying: first, the new store is too close to his own store, measuring about 200 meters in a straight line according to the map, and he believes this proximity will affect his business.<\/p>

The first point of annoyance for the store owner is that this store, referred to as a "store within a store" and authorized by local agents, has no difference in decoration and display from a specialty store, and all the products inside are RELX, with no other categories. Therefore, the store owner believes this is a specialty store masquerading as something else.<\/p>

The store owner took pictures showing that the storefront was not revealed at night.<\/p>

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Daytime photos taken by the store owner show the storefront displaying the RELX logo.<\/p>

The store owner immediately filed a complaint with RELX's Sichuan agent, Mr. Wang. According to the chat records provided by the store owner, the Sichuan agent was already aware of the situation and had communicated with the relevant parties. Initially reported as a store within a store, it now appears that the image and display are completely non-compliant. The Sichuan agent informed store owner ZJ that they would either have this store shut down or rectified, and they would actively handle the matter.<\/p>

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Internal photos taken by store owner ZJ show that there are indeed only RELX products.<\/p>

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Store display.<\/p>

Update: The RELX Sichuan agent sent a statement to Blue Hole stating that this store within a store has now ceased operations for rectification, and all decorations will be redone according to the store within a store standards.<\/p>

Regarding the issue of proximity raised by the store owner, the RELX Sichuan agent stated that the walking distance is nearly 1 kilometer.<\/p>

Case 2: Two specialty stores opened simultaneously within 300 meters.<\/p>

This store owner previously explained the issue of proximity through Blue Hole's discussion forum on December 31, 2020. Blue Hole also forwarded the detailed information to RELX's official team, which responded that they had communicated with the owner of another nearby store and canceled the RELX specialty store cooperation, dismantled the storefront, and downgraded the store.<\/p>

At that time, we sent the above processing information to the store owner, but the store owner has been telling Blue Hole on Weibo and WeChat that this issue has not actually been resolved, and nearly four months have passed since then.<\/p>

Update: RELX stated that they have resolved the communication on this matter.<\/p>

Case 3: A specialty store and an authorized store are just a wall apart.<\/p>

This was a photo posted by a netizen in a WeChat group, and we did not contact the owners of the two stores to verify this.<\/p>

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From the photo, it shows that these two RELX stores are just a wall apart, both displaying the RELX logo. The difference is that one is a specialty store and the other is an authorized store.<\/p>

Update: RELX stated that the authorized store was previously a store for another brand of e-cigarettes, which later closed and transitioned to a RELX green label supernova store, and is expected to close when the lease expires at the end of May, and a consensus has been reached.<\/p>

Information obtained by Blue Hole indicates that starting April 1, RELX's expansion site selection rules will change, with the store distance changing from 500 meters to 300 meters in a straight line.<\/p>

We do not intend to intervene in the business operations of enterprises. Whether specialty stores should adhere to a certain distance from each other, and whether specialty stores and authorized stores should also follow distance regulations, is entirely at RELX's discretion. However, we have received multiple complaints from store owners regarding such issues, which indeed makes us feel that this problem may affect some store owners' enthusiasm. Therefore, we have simply recorded the above cases in hopes that RELX will take this seriously.<\/p>

In addition to these proximity issues, we have also received numerous complaints from RELX store owners regarding inadequate subsidy distribution, which also falls under RELX's business operations. However, if promises were made and store owners met their targets, we still believe that they should be honored. #p#分页标题#e#<\/p>

Regarding complaints and disputes in RELX's channels, it is indeed quite challenging from an external perspective, as there are direct supplies, as well as various levels of agents. Coordinating and handling these complex relationships is not easy.<\/p>

What Blue Hole can do is, since there have been multiple similar complaints, we will consolidate them into one article, hoping to draw RELX's attention and resolve the issues properly.<\/p>