October 23, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Emart24, the convenience store chain of retail giant Shinsegae, said on Sept. 26 that the number of storeowners who switched to its brand rose this year.

According to Shinsegae, among newly opened Emart24 outlets the number of stores that used to operate under other competing brands, reached 14.7 percent as of August this year, as compared to 5.5 percent during the same period last year.

The company said the increase was due to a 16.4 percent rise in the minimum wage, which burdened the owners who had been using part-time employees to do the night shifts. “Emart24 chains does not mandate owners to operate 24 hours a day. So, they can choose to close during night time, which takes off their burden of labor costs,” the company official said in a statement. Emart24 also added that only 17.1 percent of the current storeowners operate round the clock.

Moreover, the company also said that its expansion plan to operate 6,000 stores by 2020 is going smoothly. The number of outlet increased by 28 percent from 2,652 stores at the end of last year to 3,413 as of August.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)