Helens Bar Trademarks Invalidated, Stock Price Plunges, Market Value Shrinks Over 90%
Blue Whale News, June 28 - Have you been to Helen's? This Chinese bar, known as "the first bistro for young people," recently lost its Chinese names after a court ruling invalidated three trademarks: "Helens," "Helens Bar," and "Helens Big Pai Dang." However, compared to losing its Chinese names, Helen's bigger crisis may be that it, once a symbol of youth, is being abandoned by young people…
Helen's Trademark Battle
Founded in 2009, Helens first opened in a remote storefront in Wudaokou, Beijing, near Tsinghua University and Peking University. Its founder, Xu Bingzhong, a veteran born in the 1970s, once said in an interview that the business initially targeted foreigners, such as overseas students. Perhaps for this reason, Helens initially used English trademarks like "Helen's" and applied for a batch of related English trademarks in 2013. However, its core Chinese trademarks were not registered until 2018, laying a hidden risk for future trademark disputes.
According to interface news, the trademark disputes over "Helens" mainly arose between Chengdu Helen Bin Fen Hotel Co., Ltd. and Helens. The former registered two "Helen" trademarks in Class 43 (restaurant and bar services) in 2016, and filed invalidation requests against the "Helens" trademark on May 23, 2023, and against the "Helens Bar" and "Helens Big Pai Dang" trademarks on August 7, 2024, claiming that the disputed trademarks were similar to the two cited "Hellen" trademarks for similar services, potentially causing consumer confusion. After a three-year back-and-forth, on the evening of June 25, Helens announced that its three Chinese trademarks "Helens," "Helens Bar," and "Helens Big Pai Dang" were finally ruled invalid by the court. The announcement stated that, based on current assessment, the dispute would not materially impact the Group's overall business, daily operations, or financial condition, as the Group can continue using its uncontested trademarks in daily operations.
Blue Whale News reporters found that Helens' offline stores and online communications still use its Chinese name "Helens" and related expressions. The impact has not yet been felt in specific stores, but the capital market is more sensitive than physical stores. After the news, the stock price opened lower on June 26, falling more than 6% during trading. By the close, Helens' stock price fell to HK$1.58. Helens' market value once reached HK$30 billion in the year of its listing, but currently stands at only HK$2 billion, a drop of over 90%.
"The First Bistro for Young People" Is No Longer Young
Helen's earliest stores were located near university areas, mainly serving foreigners and international students. Later, founder Xu Bingzhong shifted his strategy, positioning Helen's as "a space for young people to freely communicate offline," emphasizing "extreme cost-effectiveness." All bottled beer at Helen's is priced under 10 yuan, and cocktails are slightly more expensive at just over 20 yuan.
The "young people + cost-effectiveness" model was successfully replicated. By the end of 2021, Helens had 782 stores. That year, Helens went public in Hong Kong under the title of "China's largest chain bistro." According to Helens' 2021 prospectus, from 2018 to 2020, Helens' revenue was RMB 115 million, RMB 565 million, and RMB 818 million, respectively, with net profits of RMB 9.734 million, RMB 79.136 million, and RMB 70.072 million. Although the drinks at Helens are low-priced, that does not mean it is unprofitable. The prospectus shows that self-owned drinks with a gross margin above 70% contributed over 60% of Helens' beverage revenue. Thanks to direct factory sourcing and economies of scale, Helens can also obtain relatively favorable purchase prices for third-party brand drinks.
Thus, one of Helen's advantages lies in scale. While expanding aggressively, Helens also faced soaring store opening costs. Combined with factors such as the pandemic, in 2021, Helens had a net loss of RMB 230 million; the following year, the net loss expanded to RMB 1.601 billion. After accumulating over RMB 1.8 billion in losses, Helens began closing stores to save itself. Financial data shows that by the end of 2023, Helens had 479 bars, a decrease of 288 from a year earlier, and more than 40% fewer than the peak of over 850. Meanwhile, Helens initiated a strategic transformation from a fully direct-operated model to a franchise model, namely the "Hi Beer Partner" program. At the start of the program, the minimum capital threshold was 600,000 yuan. However, by 2024, the investment threshold for new store types was lowered to about 400,000 yuan, reflecting Helen's urgent need for expansion and improved operations.
Bistros Everywhere, Helen's Business Is Tough
These transformation measures have been effective. According to the 2025 financial report, Helens' full-year revenue was RMB 540 million, down 28.3% year-on-year; net profit attributable to parent company was RMB 33.954 million, successfully turning losses into profits. The proportion of self-owned beverage revenue and gross margin increased year-on-year, with store-level contribution gross margin rising to 73.77%, improving overall operations compared to the previous year.
However, Helens still faces the harsh reality of declining average daily sales per store. In 2025, the same-store average daily sales for direct-operated and licensed partner stores were RMB 8,500, down over 18% year-on-year; the overall average daily sales for individual partner stores was only RMB 4,100, with declines across all store types. In the catering industry, where per-store daily revenue often exceeds 10,000 yuan, the franchise stores, which are Helen's mainstay, earn far too little. More notably, nearly 70% of Helen's stores are in third-tier and lower cities, putting objective pressure on profitability.
On the other hand, young people now have too many places to drink, and low prices are becoming less attractive. Narrow Menu Eye shows that in the past year, as many as 38,000 new bars opened. From Homebars, craft beer bars, Livehouse-style bars to various bistros, consumption scenarios are diversifying. Among them, bistros that combine "food + drink" have risen strongly in recent years. In this track, the brand Huan Shi (Magic Chef) is developing aggressively, and its parent company Jiwu Thinking submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January this year. Currently, Huan Shi has over 100 stores in China, with revenue exceeding RMB 1 billion in 2024. Compared with Helens, which opens the market with low prices and scale, Huan Shi takes a different path. Its environment appears more atmospheric, and its product prices are higher, with per capita consumption exceeding 100 yuan. On social platforms, many netizens associate Huan Shi with "beautiful food." According to its prospectus, the average daily sales per store for the first nine months of 2025 was RMB 29,880. Unlike traditional bars, Huan Shi extends operating hours to over 18 hours by offering brunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and late-night drinks markets, improving store efficiency and operational performance. In the nine months ended September 30, 2025, alcoholic beverages and soft drinks contributed about 45% of operating revenue, with 85% being alcoholic drinks. During the same period, Huan Shi's overall gross margin remained stable at 68.7%, higher than the industry average. However, Huan Shi also has its own challenges. High store costs squeeze profits, and consumer complaints about dish taste and quality can affect brand reputation.
Zhu Danpeng, an analyst in the Chinese food industry, believes that, similar to the coffee track, brands at different price points have their own markets. The same applies to bars; brands at different pricing levels will coexist. Bars are increasingly popular among the new generation, so this business is in a period of rapid expansion, but overall concentration is low. Perhaps after about five more years, with capital promotion and consumption dividend support, the market will see leading brands and a clearer competitive landscape. Product pricing is not the only key factor affecting brand trends. Zhu Danpeng said that the hard-core factors determining the future development of the bar business are mainly brand effect, scale effect, fan effect, supply chain completeness, and single-store operation capability. Because each store is located differently, strategies should also be differentiated. For companies like Helens, the biggest challenge may be how to run each store well.
