Lotte Mart will open a Bandung supermarket

Lotte Mart is opening a second supermarket in Indonesia, the discount retailer said Wednesday.

The 1,204-square-meter store will be located in Bandung, the capital of West Java province.

Lotte already operates 38 stores in Indonesia, including 24 wholesale stores and 13 hypermarkets. Lotte’s first Indonesia supermarket was in Kemang, an upper middle class residential area with many expatriates.

Lotte acquired 19 stores when it purchased Dutch wholesaler Makro in 2008, and has steadily strengthened its presence over the years.

Its Indonesian business has grown at an average of 10 percent annually in terms of sales since 2011. Last year, revenue from Indonesia was 1.4 trillion won ($1.3 million).

“We plan to open 10 more stores this year including the Bandung supermarket,” said Kim Young-gyun, an executive in charge of Southeast Asia.

“[Among multinational retailers] we were early in coming to Indonesia and we are confident of our success,” Kim added.

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world and its growing purchasing power has attracted a number of multinational retailers including French retailer Carrefour. Lotte also competes with local retailer Matahari Putra Prima.

Korean retailers are increasingly looking abroad to generate profits as consumer demand at home remains sluggish.

Lotte Mart currently operates 151 stores overseas. There are 103 in China and 10 in Vietnam.

BY PARK JUNG-YOUN [park.jungyoun@joongang.co.kr]