S. Korean Consumers Buying Safes and Gold Bars

SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of South Korean consumers are purchasing safes for use at home.

Lotte Department Store reported a 26 percent increase in sales of home safes last month, compared to the same period last year.

Hyundai Department Store and Shinsegae Department Store also reported 43.8 percent and 40.6 percent increases in home safe sales, respectively.

The purchases are seen to result from more consumers withdrawing cash or buying gold bars to prepare for economic uncertainty.

In fact, gold bar packages introduced by a number of distributors during the Lunar New Year holiday sold out in a blink of an eye.

Last month, three kinds of gold coin packages released by convenience store chain GS25 sold out just three days after their release.

Gold bar packages released by Emart24, each priced at 2.8 million won (US$2,600), sold out even faster, in only two days.

Image Credit: Lotte Department Store / Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com