Xiaomi goes for retail to revive China sales

After pioneering online flash sales in China to reach the top of the smartphone market, Xiaomi is turning to old-fashioned retail to arrest its slide.

The phone maker will roll out a chain of about 1,000 brick-and-mortar stores under the Mi Home banner over the next three years, as co-founder Lei Jun mimics a strategy that’s helped the Oppo and Vivo brands leapfrog Xiaomi to the top of China’s smartphone market. The new target accelerates plans outlined just last month to open 200 stores in 2017.

Xiaomi, which was valued at about $45 billion in 2014, is resorting to traditional selling techniques