Will Quxiaomian Become the Next Luckin of the Noodle World?
When Luckin Coffee opened its first store at Galaxy SOHO in Beijing around 2017, few could have guessed the phenomenon that would soon ensue. Soon enough, though, the brand expanded to 4,500 stores at its peak in 2019. Since then, as we all know, the brand has seen its share of controversy, but it looks like they're out to prove that they're not down and out just yet!
The company behind Luckin are pushing their app-only purchasing concept into restaurant territory, with a newly-opened noodle place called Quxiaomian. The question is: can this place really become the next Luckin Coffee of the noodle world?
We went down to the first location in Beijing to check for ourselves! Warning: If you try to visit this place for yourself, be prepared to get lost! Located in the ground floor of the Galleria Shopping Center, the venue is so tucked away that you might just walk right past it.
Inside, there is an open kitchen and two pick-up spots on both sides for customers get their orders. The operational concept is, of course, nearly identical to Luckin Coffee: customers must place orders on their phones by scanning the QR code or using an app beforehand. Amazingly, it only takes about five minutes for your bowl to hit the counter! That's almost exactly the same time that it takes to make a cup of coffee at Luckin.
The restaurant features Chongqing-style noodles, which have become popular across china for that mouth-numbing sensation that comes with a twist of Sichuan oil and peppers. The original prices of the noodles fall somewhere from RMB 24 to RMB 34, about average for chain-store noodles. But just like with Luckin, where customers enjoyed significant discounts in the early stages, Quxiaomian also offers incredible coupons, with near 70 percent off of any bowl you select, making a bowl of noodles as cheap as RMB 12!
As for the quality, the soup is indeed quite tasty and the topping comes with a wide selection, with traces of peanuts and white sesames found within. For a bowl of noodles as dirt-cheap as RMB 12, we'll will take it! But will customers still be willing to pay about RMB 30 for the same product when coupons run out? That remains to be seen, but if so, convenience will be key.
Beyond that, this place certainly doesn’t look like Luckin Coffee in any sense, nor does the product or space have any highlights that really make it stand out among numerous noodle rivals. Another important factor is that there are significant differences between noodle and coffee customer bases. Is there still a chance that one day, Quxiaomian will try to grab a bigger share in the Chinese noodle world? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Read: Luckin Coffee App Crashes in Wake of Cooked Books Revelation
Images: Irene Li, Dianping
