Localization after staying in Mongolia for 5 months... CU stores surpass 100 in 2 years

Instantly Cooked Korean Toast Hits Big
Students Flock to Create Cafe Culture
Goal to Promote CU in Convenience Store Pioneer Japan

Choi Young-joo, Manager of BGF Retail Overseas Business Team (center), is taking a commemorative photo at CU Shangri-La, the first store, together with BGF Retail TFT team members who supported CU's entry into Mongolia locally.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Convenience store CU has successfully established itself by surpassing 100 stores just two years after entering Mongolia. CU's success in Mongolia was made possible by blending local culture with the Korean-style convenience store model. Currently, CU is pioneering a new convenience store culture in Mongolia, emerging as a new wave of Hallyu.

On the 18th, Choi Young-joo, manager of BGF Retail's Overseas Business Team, who met with Asia Economy, explained, "The spread of a new culture is the key to success in Mongolia." He was responsible for all tasks from reviewing CU's entry into Mongolia, contract completion, to local stabilization efforts. During the local stabilization phase, he stayed in Mongolia for five months to transfer the know-how of Korean convenience stores. Recognizing these achievements, Choi was selected as 'BGF Person of the Year,' an award given to outstanding employees within the company.

Mongolia was one of many countries CU considered for overseas expansion, and the country's exceptional love for Korea played a significant role in choosing Mongolia. Since convenience stores are community-based outlets, it was judged that areas with a good understanding of Korean culture would more readily accept the Korean-style convenience store. Choi said, "When I visited Mongolia for local research, I was surprised," adding, "There were hundreds of signs written in Hangul all over the streets, and the Hallyu wave was much stronger than what I had read about in the news."

After signing a contract with a local partner in April 2018, CU's biggest concern and challenge was localizing the Korean-style convenience store. To solve this, Choi stayed in Mongolia for five months immediately after the contract to integrate local culture into CU, and his efforts resulted in great success.

In August of that year, CU opened its first store in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, selling 'Korean-style toast'?a product not found in Korean convenience stores?as an instant-cooked item. The store hired staff dedicated to instant cooking and also developed flavors tailored to local tastes.

The result was a huge hit. Not only could customers quickly and affordably have a meal, but the rumor of tasting Korean-style toast drew long lines outside the convenience store. As of August, toast ranked third in CU Mongolia's product sales, maintaining high popularity. The first place was hot dogs, and second was CU's instant drip coffee, 'Get Coffee Americano.'

At that time, Mongolia lacked a caf? culture, so many rest areas were set up inside the convenience stores. As a result, just as students in Korea study in caf?s, local students began visiting CU to drink convenience store coffee while studying. Some stores even installed TVs to blend into the daily lives of locals.

CU also spared no investment in Mongolia, enabling rapid growth from the first store to the 100th. To ensure smooth logistics supply, CU built a logistics center locally and established separate facilities to produce hygienic ready-to-eat foods like triangular kimbap on-site. Consequently, CU grew to rank within the top three in Mongolia's retail industry.

Choi said, "Currently, over 80% of the 100 stores are located in prime commercial areas, and CU holds a unique position in the convenience store industry, which gives store owners great pride," adding, "Membership usage exceeds 20%, and brand loyalty is very high, especially among young people." Choi's future goal is to create second and third success cases like Mongolia.

He stated, "Currently, in Korea, competition is intense with one store per 1,200 people, so finding new growth engines is important," and added, "We aim to achieve further growth in Mongolia, develop new overseas markets, and ultimately re-enter Japan?the homeland of convenience stores?with CU."

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