GS25 heads to Malaysia with plans to open next year

Industry

Published: 11 Jul. 2022, 15:39

GS25 heads to Malaysia with plans to open next year

Jung Jae-hyung, right, representative of GS Retail's convenience store division, and Datuk Seri Dr. KK Chai, founder and chairman of KK Group, pose for a photo after signing a memorandum of understanding on July 9. [GS RETAIL]

GS25 plans to tap into the Malaysian market by opening its first branch in the country next year.

GS Retail, which operates the convenience store chain GS25, announced Monday it signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia’s KK Group on July 9.

KK Group will be operating GS25 chains in Malaysia through a master franchise contract, which means GS Retail will receive royalties for providing its brand.

The two companies plan to open Malaysia’s first GS25 branch next year and aim to have 500 branches in the country within the next five years.

KK Group operates 610 branches of KK Mart, a local convenience store, and other food related businesses such as KK Food Court and K3 Coffee Lab. According to GS Retail, KK Group approached the company in hopes of expanding its convenience store business to use as its future growth driver.

GS Retail plans to offer various services that are already available at Korean branches. Woodel, a service that delivers GS25 products within an hour, will be available in Malaysia. Its half-priced delivery service will also be offered. The service delivers parcels from one branch to another using the convenience store’s delivery trucks, but at half the price of other logistics services.

Malaysian customers will be able to enjoy meal-kits from SimplyCook and food items sold by Cookat, both brands run by subsidiaries of GS Retail.

“We plan to speed up our overseas business plans based on the popularity of our brand, successful know-how and expertise of Korean convenience stores,” said Jung Jae-hyung, representative of GS Retail’s convenience store division.

Malaysia is GS25’s third overseas market, following 160 branches in Vietnam and 70 in Mongolia. Other convenience stores have also entered the Malaysian market. CU and Emart24 both opened their first branches in the country in 2021.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]