Organizers of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games plan to increase the number of Olympic franchise stores almost tenfold to 5,000 across China by the end of this year.

The current 600 franchised stores, mostly in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, were insufficient to cover small and medium sized cities, said Chen Feng, vice marketing director with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).

The BOCOG also plans to open franchised stores overseas this year, said a committee official who refused to give his name.

Price rises of franchised goods were prohibited as the Olympics approached, said Chen, adding the BOCOG had brought out 200 low-priced products, including badges, toys and stationery, before the Spring Festival.

He said the BOCOG would try to sell all the franchised goods within three to six months of the end of the games and after that no goods would be on sale.

The China Securities Journal on Thursday reported unnamed analysts forecasting sales of franchised goods would hit US$1 billion.

The BOCOG's sales target is US$700 million.

Companies applying for a franchise must have a registered capital of five million yuan (US$641,000) and a widespread sales network, according to the BOCOG website.

The BOCOG is still considering plans to grant franchises to individual dealers, said Chen.

(BOCOG, February 9, 2007)