Hanwha Galleria, the retail arm of Hanwha Solutions, will open the first branch of US fast food chain Five Guys in Seoul early next year, the company said Thursday, a day after its executive publicized it through his personal social media account. On Wednesday, Kim Dong-sun, head of strategic management at Hanwha Galleria, uploaded a photo of himself on Instagram shaking hands with William Peecher, director of international expansion at Five Guys Enterprise, with a hashtag that translates to &ld

Consumer Oct. 6, 2022

Hyundai Department Store said Wednesday it would compensate staff and partner companies suffering from a business void at Daejeon Hyundai Premium Outlet that caught fire last week that left seven deaths. The company will give 2.5 million won-3.5 million won ($1,760-$2,470) to around 1,000 managers and salespeople whose work has been suspended due to the post-fire shutdown. Refusing to disclose the exact number of staff and managers, a Hyundai Department Store official said “we will come up

Consumer Oct. 5, 2022

  As time spent at home increased during the coronavirus pandemic, domestic sales of Korean instant noodles surged to 1.3 trillion won ($917 million) as of August, data showed Wednesday. According to data from market tracker Nielsen IQ Korea, combined sales of four local ramen makers -- Nongshim, Samyang, Ottogi and Paldo -- jumped 4.6 percent from last year’s 1.2 trillion won between January and August. In terms of market share, Nongshim sat atop with 55.7 percent, followed by Ottogi

Consumer Oct. 5, 2022

  As Korea transitions to the endemic stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the online-focused retail industry is shifting toward offline stores to enhance customer experience, a report showed Tuesday. Although the vacancy rate rose in commercial districts during the pandemic, retail brands are eyeing prime spaces to open pop-up or flagship stores, according to a report from commercial real estate platform Cushman & Wakefield Korea. For instance, Apple opened its second store in a new buildin

Consumer Oct. 4, 2022

South Korean grandparents gifted their grandchildren aged one or under around 99.1 billion won ($68.8 million) last year, a recent report showed Monday. According to a report based on data from the National Tax Service, the total amount of financial gifts transferred to children up to a year old from their grandparents last year jumped approximately threefold compared to 2020. The case where grandparents who gift financial assets to grandchildren, those who are more than one generation below tha

Industry Oct. 3, 2022

South Korean food giant SPC Group said Sunday its coffeehouse-to-bakery brand Paris Baguette has ranked 25th among the best franchise brands evaluated by the US-based magazine Franchise Times. According to the Franchise Times Top 500, an annual ranking of the largest franchise brands by sales in the US, Paris Baguette's ranking jumped 13 spots from last year's 38th. Its ranking is the highest among Korean brands in the list this year. “Our 77 years of baking know-how, efficient bakery mana

Consumer Oct. 3, 2022

South Korean retail-to-chemical giant Lotte Group said Thursday its overseas investment has exceeded 7 trillion won ($4.9 billion) this year. So far, the largest overseas project is Lotte Chemical’s Line Project, a $3.9 billion megasized petrochemicals production complex in Banten, Indonesia. It aims to produce 1 million metric tons of ethylene, 520,000 tons of propylene, 250,000 tons of polypropylene and other petrochemical products by 2025. The chemicals unit also plans to build its f

Consumer Sept. 29, 2022

With fast-growing interest in eco-friendly lifestyles, South Korean food companies are expanding plant-based menu items and restaurants to cater to the growing global vegan population of some 180 million. Nongshim, the country’s leading instant noodle maker, said Thursday it has launched eight kinds of plant-based "cup rice" (rice bowl with toppings), and porridge, in partnership with vegan restaurant Doosoogobang. Instead of spicy meat, cup rice comes with toppings such as na

Consumer Sept. 28, 2022

Global messaging app provider Line Corp. said Tuesday that Line Man Wongnai, its delivery platform operated in Thailand, has raised $265 million in a funding round led by Line Corp. and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC. Other investors in the Series B funding include BRV Capital Management, PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Co., Bualuang Ventures and Taiwan Mobile. With the new investment, Line Man Wongnai's value topped $1 billion, becoming Thailand's largest tech startup unicorn. The

Consumer Sept. 27, 2022

Over the last few years, pandemic-triggered market volatility has provided great business opportunities for South Korean startups. But in the face of a deteriorating market outlook driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and inflation, only a handful of startups with strong business portfolios could keep their title as “the next unicorn” with a corporate value of some $1 billion or more. RSquare, a commercial real estate platform, said its sales had surged on-year by 61 percent to 1

Industry Sept. 26, 2022

Product collaborations with fashion brands continue to be popular in the local manufacturing industry, with a growing number of consumers looking to own unique items. Samsung Electronics, the country’s tech giant, said Friday it has launched a limited edition of Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Watch 5 series and Buds 2 designed by a local fashion brand Juun.J. The Juun.J edition Galaxy Z Flip 4 comes in two colors – graphite and phantom black -- with an all-black leather case, a shoulder

Industry Sept. 23, 2022

Germany’s top three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen – topped the list of the most recalled cars in South Korea over the past five years, a recent report showed Wednesday. According to the report based on data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, vehicles produced by the German big three made up 92.1 percent of the total recalled cars between January 2018 and August 2022. BMW was ranked first with 2,702 recalls over five years, with the numbe

Industry Sept. 21, 2022

Dairy product prices are likely to go up again as the price of locally produced milk is expected to increase as much as 500 won ($0.36) per liter, industry sources said Tuesday. Korea Dairy Committee, a private organization that oversees fair distribution of raw milk, carried out the first meeting between dairy farmers and dairy companies on Tuesday to negotiate the price of raw milk for this year. Even before the negotiation, the price of milk was widely expected to jump 300-500 won to 2,700-3,

Consumer Sept. 20, 2022

South Korean households are feeling the inflation pinch as they brace for the annual kimchi-making season later this year. The average price for 10 kilograms of cabbages, the key ingredient for kimchi, surged on-year by 116.6 percent to 32,940 won ($23.7) as of Sept. 16, data from the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. showed. The price of 20 kg of white radish, which are fermented in spicy sauce and other flavorful seasoning, skyrocketed by 146.1 percent to 28,460 won in the

Consumer Sept. 19, 2022

With inflation showing no signs of abating, South Koreans are likely to suffer more financial burden from eating out after the Chuseok holiday, as even low-cost foods like gimbap see a surge in price. The average price of gimbap, one of the more budget-friendly meals, in Seoul surged 2.6 percent to surpass the 3,000 won ($2.2) mark as of August compared to a month earlier, according to data from the Korea Consumer Agency. Among restaurant meals, the price of pork belly increased the most, fro

Consumer Sept. 8, 2022