[Aju News DB]
The de facto head of South Korea's retail conglomerate, Shinsegae Group, disclosed an ambitious plan to relocate E-Mart discount stores in China to Vietnam, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations, saying there will be a "surprise" announcement related to the group's overseas operations in the first half of next year.
In line with a scale down at home, the group has already announced the complete withdrawal of six E-Mart discount stores because of poor performances exacerbated by a diplomatic row over a US missile shield that sparked a Chinese consumer boycott.
Group vice chairman Chung Yong-jin said the withdrawal of E-Mart stores in China would be completed by the end of this year. E-Mart used to have about 30 outlets across China. E-Mart has also streamlined its business at home because of competition in the saturated retail market.
"We are in contact with Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos," Chung told reporters after attending a ceremony Thursday to open the third Starfield shopping complex in Goyang on the northern outskirts of Seoul. "In the second half of next year, there will be a surprise announcement related to our overseas business."
Chung suggested he would nurture online shopping malls, saying he will consider acquiring South Korean e-commerce platform, 11Street, from SK Planet, an SK Group unit, which has scaled down money-losing operations abroad and seeks a stake sale or partnership.
"There will be a surprise announcement before the end of this year," he said, without elaborating on his plan. The online commerce market is dominated by Gmarket, a brand of eBay Korea with an annual transaction value of about 14 trillion won (12.4 billion US dollars), compared to 11Street's 6.8 trillion won.
Starfied represents a new paradigm in shopping malls as it provides a combination of shopping, entertainment and leisure to satisfy customers, Chung said, adding the percentage of space for entertainment and leisure would be increased from 30 to 40 percent at the new shopping complex in Goyang.
Starfield is a giant luxury shopping mall complex set up by Chung's group, and the first complex was built in Seoul's southeastern satellite city of Hanam in September last year.
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