E-Mart (139480) plans to open a new store in the Chungcheong region this year and will roll out quick commerce delivery to all of its outlets. The retailer is betting on strengthening the core competitiveness of its physical stores — from store space to services — as e-commerce gains ground in the grocery market.
E-Mart will open the new store around the end of the year, according to industry sources on the 25th. Cheongju is currently seen as the most likely location. E-Mart already operates a Cheongju outlet in the city's Seowon district, but is pursuing the additional opening on the view that surrounding demand and urban development warrant another store. Cheongju is regarded as an area with a solid customer base, anchored by industrial complexes housing SK hynix and LG Energy Solution.
Separately from this opening, E-Mart is also taking part in the development of the Cheongju Technopolis site, targeted for completion in 2028. "We are holding the necessary discussions with local governments and other parties to open a new store in Chungcheong Province," an E-Mart official said.
The new Chungcheong store will be the company's first opening in about a year and a half, since the E-Mart Food Market Godeok outlet in April last year. For the discount store industry as a whole, the last new opening was Lotte Mart's Guri store in May last year. E-Mart is the only operator opening new stores at a time when the sector's market presence is shrinking — Homeplus has entered court-led restructuring, cutting its store count to 67 from 117 last year. E-Mart also plans to open a Traders outlet in Uijeongbu this year.
The company is expanding delivery services as well. E-Mart will extend its quick commerce service, currently running at about 110 stores, to all 132 outlets by the end of the year. Orders come in through SSG.com's instant delivery service "Baro Quick" and the food delivery app Baemin, and are picked and delivered from the stores.
The rollout of quick commerce across the group is also accelerating. No Brand, its private-brand specialty chain, launched the service at four directly operated stores through Baemin in late April, expanded to 100 stores within a month, and plans to reach 150 by year-end. Including E-Mart Everyday and E-Mart24, every channel except Traders has now entered the quick commerce market.
E-Mart is also stepping up store renovations and its advertising business. After converting four discount outlets into Starfield Market stores in the first half, it will begin upgrades at three more, including the Wolgye store, in the second half. It also plans to secure a new revenue stream through an integrated online-offline retail media network (RMN) business using signage inside Traders stores.
The expanded investment comes after the company confirmed that stronger physical stores can absorb consumer demand even as e-commerce grows. The Eunpyeong and Geumdan stores, whose renovations were completed in April this year, posted sales gains of 9.4% and 20% respectively over roughly four months from May through Aug. 12, compared with before the renovations. The Pungsan store, which reopened after renovation on June 25, saw sales rise 17% from July through the 12th of this month. The Ilsan, Dongtan and Gyeongsan stores, converted to Starfield Market last year, posted increases of 79.5% in customer visits and 42.4% in sales in the second quarter from a year earlier.
Improving earnings have also underpinned that confidence. Same-store sales growth in the second quarter was 3.8% at E-Mart and 4.7% at Traders. In July, the pace picked up to 8.6% and 8.5% respectively. "Sales momentum should stay solid in August and September, helped by base effects from last year's consumption coupons and the Chuseok holiday," said Jung Jin-young, an analyst at Kyobo Securities. "We also expect indirect gains from the closure of some Homeplus stores."
"In the second half, we will continue innovating on price, products and space to further strengthen our core competitiveness and market dominance," an E-Mart official said. "We will identify new business opportunities and build a foundation for medium- to long-term growth."
