Convenience Store Flooded by Heavy Rain... Headquarters "Damage Recovery and Loss Support"

Dispatch of Facility Team to Flooded Stores
Rapid Recovery and Business Resumption Support
Full Compensation for Fire and Flood Damage

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] As heavy rain continues in various parts of the central region, causing increasing damage to convenience stores, the headquarters has stepped in to support the recovery efforts at each store.

According to the distribution industry on the 4th, 57 convenience stores suffered flood damage from July 22 to August 3. These include 17 CU stores, 10 Seven-Eleven stores, 5 GS25 stores, and 25 Emart24 stores. The stores mainly affected were located in Busan, Cheonan and Daejeon in Chungnam, and the Gyeonggi area.

A convenience store official explained, "The headquarters' facilities team was dispatched to the flooded stores to assess the situation and swiftly carry out damage recovery, and currently most stores have resumed operations." With forecasts predicting locally heavy rain throughout this week, further damage is expected. The official added, "The sales department takes measures to move products in advance and cut off power when heavy rain is forecasted to minimize damage. We are also deploying personnel to the affected stores to support rapid recovery as much as possible."

◆Convenience Store Property Damage 'Compensated by Headquarters' = Convenience stores, which are greatly affected by weather, have been making efforts to reduce damage from natural disasters. The headquarters' sales department moves products in advance and cuts off power when heavy rain is forecasted to minimize damage. Personnel are deployed to affected stores to support swift recovery as much as possible.

The headquarters also takes responsibility for and compensates property damage at stores. All CU, GS25, and Seven-Eleven stores are enrolled in comprehensive property insurance. In case of damage from fire, wind, flood, or other disasters, the full amount of the damage can be compensated. The headquarters bears the full cost of the insurance. Product damage is compensated up to 30 million KRW, and costs related to asset damage are also supported.

For stores along the Han River that suffered significant flood damage, a floating house (waterborne buoyant building) system was introduced, where the building moves according to the water level when flooded. Currently, convenience stores located on the Han River embankment are designed using floating house and mobile container methods. Container-type stores can be moved using forklifts, but sudden heavy rain causing flooding of the Han River embankment inevitably results in damage. The floating house method allows the building to move automatically due to buoyancy. Pillars capable of supporting up to 12 meters in height are installed at the edges, reducing the risk of the convenience store being swept away. GS25 has designed five stores, including Banpo and Ttukseom Han River locations, as floating houses. CU, Emart24, and Ministop each have two buoyant stores.

◆Support of Relief Supplies to Affected Areas = Meanwhile, the convenience store industry, which has the most extensive supply network among the distribution sectors, is providing relief supplies to affected areas. On the 1st, CU established a 24-hour hotline with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Disaster Relief Association, and upon receiving support requests, urgently delivered daily necessities for 600 people to the Icheon Janghowon National Sports Center and Yul-myeon Indoor Gymnasium where evacuees were present. The relief supplies included about 7,200 items such as cup noodles, instant rice, and bottled water. These were transported from the BGF Central Logistics Center and BGF Logis Gonjiam Center near Icheon.

On the 3rd, GS25 urgently provided relief food supplies for 500 people, including instant rice, ramen, and bottled water, to residents of Danyang-gun, Chungbuk, who were affected by the disaster. GS25 immediately prepared ready-to-eat food supplies for evacuees and delivered them to the Danyang-gun Office in Chungbuk as relief supplies, which were then prioritized for evacuees staying at various shelters. Earlier, on the 27th of last month, GS25 also provided over 1,000 bottles of water to an apartment complex in Dong-gu, Busan. Emart24 delivered a total of about 2,800 emergency relief items including daily 500ml bottled water, Min-saeng ramen (cup), and instant rice to Yongin. On the 25th and 30th of last month, Emart24 supplied 1,000 bottles of water to Yeongdeok-gun, Gyeongbuk, which was damaged by heavy rain, and over 2,000 emergency relief items including bottled water, cup noodles, and instant rice to Dong-gu, Busan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.