Paris Baguette, CU, GS25 Announce Long-Term Store Win-Win Agreement: "Principled Approval of Contract Renewal"

Jong-wook Cho, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission. (File photo)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Paris Baguette, CU, and GS25 franchisors have agreed in principle to allow contract renewals for long-term stores that have been in operation for more than 10 years.

On the 29th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it held a "Long-term Store Win-Win Agreement Proclamation Ceremony" attended by representatives of Paris Croissant (Paris Baguette), BGF Retail (CU), GS Retail (GS25), and representatives of affiliated franchisees, which included this agreement.

The Long-term Store Win-Win Agreement was proclaimed after the three franchisors accepted the "Guidelines for Stable Contract Renewal of Long-term Stores" prepared by the Fair Trade Commission in May 2019 and after consultations with franchisees.

Under the current Franchise Business Act, franchisees have the right to request contract renewal for up to 10 years. However, there are no separate regulations regarding contract renewals beyond this period, leaving long-term store owners exposed to the risk of contract renewal refusal.

In response, the Fair Trade Commission established guidelines for desirable long-term store contract renewal practices and has continuously promoted industry-wide adoption through win-win agreements and other measures.

The main points of the win-win agreement proclaimed by Paris Croissant, BGF Retail, and GS Retail are ▲principally allowing contract renewals for long-term stores ▲deciding contract renewal based on an evaluation system pre-agreed with franchisees ▲transparently guaranteeing procedural rights such as objection for franchisees.

Chairman Cho Sung-wook of the Fair Trade Commission stated, "Long-term stores, which have enhanced the value of franchise businesses through market development and customer acquisition, are like a shared destiny for franchisors," and added, "Through this win-win agreement, it is expected that the franchisees of a total of 6,135 long-term stores will be able to renew their contracts more stably in the future."

Meanwhile, the opening ceremony of the Franchise Comprehensive Support Center was also held on the same day. The Fair Trade Commission designated the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency as the Franchise Comprehensive Support Center in 2020 through a public contest to resolve various difficulties and disputes faced by those working in the franchise sector due to the impact of COVID-19 and to promote win-win cooperation. The center plans to provide customized comprehensive support services according to the dispute lifecycle, from occurrence to resolution and prevention.

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