Miele International, a German manufacturer of high-end home appliances, said Wednesday that it will keep its premium pricing strategy despite expectations that the company could lower product prices here following the Korea-EU free trade agreement.  Markus Miele (Miele Korea)“We also do not consider any dramatic price increase for now, even though raw material costs have soared recently,” Markus M

Industry July 20, 2011

Louis Vuitton has decided to close a store at Lotte Duty Free Shop in COEX, citing recent slowing sales there. According to industry sources on Tuesday, the French brand will not renew its contract with Lotte, set to expire in December, and will withdraw the store.“We have informed Lotte about the withdrawal because of poor sales,” a Louis Vuitton official said in an interview.  A pedestrian looks

Industry July 19, 2011

Amore Pacific Corp. said Monday that it has become the first Korean cosmetics company to get an International Standards Organization 27001 accredation.In order to secure the ISO27001 status, the nation’s largest cosmetics manufacturer underwent a rigorous set of internal and external audits for two years, the company said.  Lee Yoon (right), executive director of Amore Pacific, and Kim Sang-wook,

Industry July 18, 2011

Shipments of makgeolli soared last year largely driven by a recent surge in exports to Japan, data showed Monday. A total of 412,000 kiloliters of the Korean rice wine were shipped here in 2010, up 58.1 percent from the previous year, according to the National Tax Service.In the local alcohol beverage market still dominated by soju, a Korean distilled beverage made from rice and other starches, an

Industry July 18, 2011

Prices of vegetables, fruit and coffee rapidly escalatingA prolonged rainy spell is deepening concerns over increases in consumer prices. The government had expected the nation’s consumer price index, which hovered at 4.3 percent in the first half of the year, would stabilize in the latter half at 3.7 percent. But, coupled with high oil prices, the long rainy season is adding to uncertainty about

July 17, 2011

Choi Hung-jib, 60, was named the new CEO of Kangwon Land, a resort and casino in Gangwon Province, on Tuesday. The move makes the former vice governor of Gangwon the seventh president of the nation’s only casino for locals, established in 2008 in Jeongseon, 214 kilometers east of Seoul. Choi Hung-jib“The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics will be an opportunity for Kangwon Land to leap to a global b

People July 14, 2011

U.S. company says Korea is at the forefront of technologies and inventionsKimberly-Clark Corporation said Wednesday that it will establish its first overseas global innovation center in Korea as early as January.The U.S. households and personal care products manufacturer has already been operating its only Innovation Center Asia in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province, since 2007. While the current center w

Industry July 13, 2011

CEO says ‘Intelligent companies’ will pay attention to logistics industryJohn Pattullo, CEO of CEVA Logistics, described his company a “truly international combination.”“Our head office is registered in the U.K., while the company is owned by an American private equity. And the name is Italian,” the Scotsman told The Korea Herald.CEVA Logistics was established in August 2007, from the merger of TN

Industry July 12, 2011

Businesses are enjoying increased demand for rainy-season items such as rubber boots, umbrellas and dehumidifiers, since the nation entered the seasonal rainy spell last month. Over the past month, E-Mart, South Korea’s largest retailer, saw a surge in sales of umbrellas and rubber boots of 125 percent and 107 percent, respectively.  Customers pick out dehumidifying agents and deodorants at a supe

Industry July 12, 2011