SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – Warehouse clubs that sell a wide variety of merchandise in large quantities were not the most popular shopping destinations for consumers 10 to 15 years ago. Despite discounted prices, the idea of shopping at a place reminiscent of a massive storage facility didn’t quite come across as a pleasing [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – Food and liquor products have been among the best-selling items at South Korean discount stores in 2016 as major chains have released a variety of home replacement meals and ready-to-eat products, industry data showed Friday. E-Mart, the nation’s largest chain operated by Shinsegae, said liquor was the most popular [...]
SEOUL, July 15 (Korea Bizwire) – The fact that large corporations still abuse their market power to bully smaller enterprises would hardly come as a surprise to most Koreans. Just two months ago, Korea’s leading hypermarket franchises, Homeplus, E-mart and Lotte Mart, were fined 22 billion, 1 billion, and 850 million won, respectively, for ‘unfair [...]
SEOUL, July 8 (Korea Bizwire) – Hypermarkets, which offer a wide range of products under one roof, once prospered in Korea. Recently, however, sales growth has stagnated with a rapid change in consumer behavior. According to industry watchers, hypermarkets in Korea anticipated high growth this year, following poor performance in 2015 from widespread public fear [...]
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) — The Korean government announced that it will re-examine potential health damages to the respiratory system and other organs from humidifier disinfectants. The Ministry of Environment’s Humidifier Disinfectant Investigations Committee revealed that it will study the possibility of rhinitis, bronchitis, and other potential non-pulmonary damages resulting from humidifier disinfectants, and [...]
SEOUL, Feb.29 (Korea Bizwire) – Retailers are biting their nails with news spreading quickly that herbicides have been detected in 14 popular German beers. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as the popularity of imported beer is soaring at large discount stores and convenience stores. According to those in distribution industry, domestic retailers are checking [...]
SEOUL, Feb.28 (Korea Bizwire) – With price wars between large discount stores and social commerce sites heating up, baby formula is in the limelight. As formula is being purchased more frequently through online sites, the share of offline sales is rapidly falling. This is the main reason why large discount stores such as Emart and [...]
SEOUL, Jan.18 (Korea Bizwire) – Large discount stores are making changes by launching clothing lines in collaboration with designers. Lotte Mart announced it will sell shirts from designers Han Sang-hyuk and Go Tae-yong at 64 stores across the nation. Han Sang-hyuk is one of the most prestigious mens’ apparel designers, and has worked as a [...]
SEJONG, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – Lotte Mart, South Korea’s No. 2 discount chain, is under investigation for allegations of unfairly pressuring a supplier into selling pork bellies below production cost, the antitrust watchdog said Tuesday. A source at the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said investigators have been checking the retailer since December after a [...]
SEOUL, Dec.3 (Korea Bizwire) – While sales of domestic beer are declining at large supermarkets, foreign beer sales are rising rapidly. According to Emart, a large retailer, sales of domestic canned beer and PET bottled beer from January to November fell 2.2 percent and 6.4 percent respectively compared to the same period last year, but [...]