Vietnam GS25 Opens 100th Store... "Full-Scale Expansion This Year"

GS25, the Only 'Native Brand' Since 1990... Opens 100th Store in Vietnam on the 11th
Launching Franchise Business in Vietnam This Year... Expanding with Over 100 Stores Annually
Opened First Store in Mongolia with 2nd Largest Mongolian Business Group in H1... "Aiming to Become a Global Brand"

Local models are posing in front of the 100th GS25 store in Vietnam.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] A domestic brand convenience store has opened its 100th store in Vietnam, the first in the industry.

GS Retail announced, "GS25, the only native brand convenience store in Korea that started in 1990 as 'LG25 Gyeonghui Branch,' opened its 100th store (Vietnam GS25 Becamex Tower Branch) on the first floor of the Landmark Building in Binh Duong, Vietnam, on the 11th."

Vietnam GS25, which initially continued opening stores in Ho Chi Minh City, expanded its presence from the second half of last year to satellite cities of Ho Chi Minh, such as Binh Duong and Vung Tau.

Vietnam GS25's sales from January to February this year increased by 46.7% compared to the same period last year. Last year, it opened 33 new stores, achieving the steepest store growth among brand convenience stores in Vietnam. It is said to have about twice the scale of major overseas brand convenience stores that entered a year earlier than GS25.

Starting this year, GS25 plans to actively expand franchise stores and open more than 100 stores annually in the Hanoi area, pursuing not only solid growth but also more aggressive expansion in scale.

GS25 first entered Vietnam in 2018. It applied a localization strategy of "the answer lies with local customers" and a K-food strengthening strategy of "the most Korean is the most global" together locally.

The best-selling products at Vietnam GS25 last year were ▲ instant cooked tteokbokki ▲ bottled water ▲ rabokki ▲ banh bao (steamed buns) ▲ instant sausage, in that order. GS Retail explained that operating a Korean instant cooking corner in each Vietnam GS25 store, appropriately blending Vietnam's street food culture and the K-food craze, was effective.

'Cafe25' has also been actively launched locally in Vietnam, with Vietnam GS25's ground coffee sales increasing by 283% year-on-year from January to February this year. Sales related to instant ramen cookers, which often have waiting lines during meal times, also rose by 152%. From this year, GS25 introduced its signature product, the strawberry sandwich, locally in Vietnam, which has been breaking daily sales records.

In the first half of this year, GS25 plans to open its first store in Mongolia in partnership with Shunkolai Group, the second-largest business group in Mongolia, aiming to become a global franchise brand.

Heo Seong-jun, CEO of Vietnam GS25, said, "Despite the COVID-19 situation, Vietnam GS25 achieved significant growth last year," adding, "We will become a global brand expanding to more countries by utilizing the successful overseas expansion case where thorough localization strategy and Korean food culture are properly combined."

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