Emart to open two new branches in Seoul, Incheon

Shoppers look at items displayed at a Traders Wholesale Club store at Magok-dong in western Seoul on Feb. 14, the day of its opening. [NEWS1]

 
Emart will open two more branches this year, retail giant Shinsegae Group announced Wednesday, as part of its brick-and-mortar expansion plan for affiliates including Traders and Starbucks after years of scaling back.
 
A second Emart Food Market, the retailer’s newly launched supermarket brand centered on discounted groceries, will open in Godeok-dong in Gangdong District, eastern Seoul, in the first half of 2025.
 

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A Traders Wholesale Club will open in Guwol-dong, Incheon in the latter half. A new branch of the membership-based warehouse retailer also opened in Magok-dong, Gangseo District, western Seoul, in February.
 
An additional three supermarkets will be added in new locations by 2027, while 20 smaller Emart Everday neighborhood stores will open this year, according to Shinsegae. The group has purchased five additional plots where it plans to develop stores.
 
The rebound comes after Emart steadily reduced the number of stores in Korea since 2020, when it reached a peak of 160 branches.
 
The Emart Food Market expansion is part of the group’s efforts to create physical spaces allowing for shopping experiences that can compete with online marketplaces.
 
It follows a trend among hypermarket chains, and even department stores, that are pivoting to groceries to make up for sales in nonfood items that they are losing to e-commerce retailers like Coupang and Alibaba.
 
Shinsegae said it will continue to open more supermarkets with a specialized edge, including Emart Food Market, and to renovate existing stores to resemble malls. 
 
The group plans to cut costs, and subsequently consumer prices, by integrating purchases across its affiliates including Emart, Emart Everyday and Traders.
 
The group also plans to grow its private brand lineup of budget items that it hopes will revive sales at its Emart24 convenience stores.
 
Starbucks, meanwhile, plans to open 100 more stores in Korea. Branches that are surrounded by natural landscapes or are conceptually designed in a way different from the standard Starbucks spot — referred to as “special stores” — will join its lineup.
 
“Korean Starbucks branches with a distinctive Korean theme will make up a ‘Korea of Starbucks,’” Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin said through the group’s press release.
 
Starbucks Korea, majority owned by Emart, is Shinsegae Group’s third-largest revenue stream following Emart and Shinsegae Department Store. The coffee chain made more than 3 trillion won ($2.06 million) in sales last year.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]