At home, K-convenience stores battle stagnation; abroad they're powerful K-food ambassadors

In the bustling backstreets of Ulaanbaatar, shoppers file out of a CU convenience store with instant tteokbokki, or simmered Korean rice cake, packs...

When in S. Korea, it’s a ritual: Foreigners make stops at CU, GS25, 7-Eleven

“If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair,” as Scott McKenzie sang in the late 1960s and 70s.If...

CU, GS25 in fierce race for top spot in Korea’s convenience store market

Using multiple measures, CU and GS25 both claim they are the No. 1 player in South Korea’s convenience store (CV) market.CU, operated by BGF R...

AB InBev's Oriental Brewery buys Jeju Soju from Shinsegae

Oriental Brewery Co. (OB), a unit of the world’s largest beer company AB InBev, agreed on Wednesday to purchase Jeju Soju from Shinsegae L&...

BGF Retail’s CU looks beyond Kazakhstan deep into Central Asia

Kazakhstan, a Central Asian country 27 times the area of South Korea, did not have any modernized convenience stores until early this year.The count...

7-Eleven ratchets up sports marketing to take on GS25, CU

7-Eleven, the third-largest convenience store chain in South Korea, is challenging its bigger rivals GS25 and CU, attracting customers with Hello Ki...

CU to accept Japan's Ponta Points for payments

South Korea's BGF Retail, the operator of the leading domestic convenience store chain CU, announced on Sunday that it signed a memorandum of unders...

Shinsegae Dept. Store to sell luxury wines in Gangnam

South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group is set to sell luxury wines with price tags up to tens of thousands of dollars in Seoul, as demand for pre...

Korea’s makgeolli market hits brakes amid whiskey fad

The market growth of South Korea’s traditional milky and often sweet rice wine, makgeolli, has slowed after the country’s younger genera...

BGF to vigorously expand convenience stores in Kazakhstan

BGF Retail Co., South Korea’s biggest convenience store chain operator, will expand aggressively in Kazakhstan, creating the potential to cran...

S.Korea's CU opens first store in Kazakhstan

South Korea's BGF Retail, the operator of the leading domestic convenience store chain CU, announced on Thursday that it opened its first store in K...

Whisky imports hit record high in S. Korea amid falling wine interest

Soaring highballs propelled whisky consumption to record heights in South Korea last year, while pandemic-driven interest in wine waned significantl...

Shinsegae to close whisky business to focus on profits

Shinsegae Inc., South Korea’s largest department store and supermarket company, will pull out of the whisky market, bucking the trend of the r...

Lotte Chilsung, E&J Gallo to jointly boost soju sale in US

South Korea’s Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co. announced on Tuesday that it partnered with the world's largest winery E&J Gallo to expand its...

S. Korea’s CU surpasses 500 global stores

South Korean convenience store chain CU announced on Thursday that it surpassed 500 global stores, achieving an annual footfall of 100 million overs...

LG to open Kitchen Trip in 100 accommodations in S.Korea

LG Electronics Inc. said on Monday it will start the LG Kitchen Trip, the event of its home appliances for customer experience in 100 tourist spor...

CU to sell souvenir snack set for foreign tourists

South Korean convenience store chain CU next month will launch a souvenir snack set for foreign tourists.This will be the first product of its kind ...

Korean convenience stores threaten Japanese rivals’ empire

South Korea’s convenience store chains aim to seize the throne from Japanese rivals in Asia by utilizing K-pop and food as they look for new g...

Wine bubble bursts in S.Korea as whisky frenzy grows

The South Korean fever for wine has cooled, with its imports down in the first half for a second straight year as the popularity of whisky among you...

South Korea's whisky imports surge 50% to record high

South Korea's whisky imports surged by 50% in the first half of 2023, reaching an unprecedented peak, according to trade data the Korea Customs Serv...

Convenience store giant BGF Retail signs IPR deal with YG Plus

South Korea's BGF Retail, which runs the leading domestic convenience store chain CU, on Monday said it will sign a deal with YG Plus, which special...

CU marks first entry of S.Korean convenience store into Kazakhstan

South Korean convenience store heavyweight, CU, has announced its first foray into Central Asia, beginning with Kazakhstan. The retailer's goal is t...

S.Korean convenience store chain CU releases Snoop Dogg sparkling wine

South Korean convenience store chain CU announced on Monday that it exclusively released “Snoop Dogg Cali Gold sparkling wine”, which is...

S.Korea's hy to launch wine import business

South Korea’s hy, formerly Korea Yakult, announced on Thursday that it has recently obtained a liquor import license from South Korea's Nation...

S.Korean convenience store chain CU pilots delivery robot

BGF Retail, a franchiser that operates convenience store chain CU, is currently testing delivery robots developed by Mobinn, a startup that spun off...

Korea's Kooksoondang sees its makgeolli exports surpass $10 mn mark

Kooksoondang Co., a South Korean brewery that produces traditional rice-based wines, announced on Tuesday that its exports reached an all-time high ...

CU to make instant VAT refund for foreign customers

BGF Retail, a franchiser that operates convenience store chain CU, said on Tuesday that it would implement an instant VAT refund service for foreign...

CU to introduce shopping platform on metaverse

Convenience store chain CU said on Thursday that it would introduce a meta-commerce service where online business activities take place on the met...

Traditional Korean wine Bekseju sells 700 mn bottles

South Korea's traditional winemaker Kook Soon Dang Co. has sold a total of 700 million bottles of its flagship Bekseju since its launch in 1992 as i...

Bank of Wine: High-end wine investment in the form of digital assets

South Korea is the world’s second-most attractive wine market, outranked by only the United States, according to London-based consumer researc...