Central Asia's First K Convenience Store... CU Opens First Branch in Kazakhstan

Partnering with 3rd Generation Goryeoin Company for Expansion
Planning to Increase 500 Stores Over 5 Years

CU, a convenience store operated by BGF Retail, is expanding the territory of K-convenience stores by entering Kazakhstan, the largest country in Central Asia.

BGF Retail announced on the 7th that it opened the first CU convenience store in Kazakhstan, CU Astana Square, in Almaty, the largest city in the country, on the 6th.

Hong Jung-guk, Vice Chairman of BGF Retail (left), and Andrey Shin, CEO of Silla, are posing for a commemorative photo at the opening ceremony held on the 6th in front of CU Kazakhstan's first store.

In June last year, BGF Retail signed a master franchise contract (MFC) with CU Central Asia, a newly established convenience store corporation of the local Kazakh company ‘Shin-Line’, to enter the Kazakhstan market. The master franchise contract is an agreement in which the franchisor BGF Retail grants the local partner the rights to use the brand, open stores, and operate the business, while receiving royalties.

Shin-Line is the largest ice cream manufacturer occupying 40% of the Central Asian market and is currently expanding its business into manufacturing products closely related to convenience stores, such as ramen and dairy products. Notably, Andrey Shin, CEO of Shin-Line, is a third-generation Korean and the president of the Almaty Korean Association, known for his special affection for Korea.

BGF Retail intensively supported Shin-Line for about six months with distribution infrastructure and know-how, including logistics centers and food manufacturing centers. In particular, BGF Retail is recognized for changing the logistics paradigm of the local distribution industry by establishing the first logistics center dedicated to distributors in Kazakhstan, where all distribution channels receive direct deliveries from manufacturers. Together with KOTRA, BGF Retail was able to significantly expand the export foothold for domestic small and medium-sized partner companies to the Central Asian market.

CU Astana Square store opened on Tole Be, the main street of Almaty. Tole Be is a place with a high flow of young people as it is densely populated with universities, government offices, and offices. Also, directly opposite the store is the large Astana Square, where seasonal festivals are held, and plans are in place to introduce seasonal exclusive products.

On the 6th, local customers are enjoying shopping at the Kazakhstan CU Astana Square store, which opened on the same day.

First, CU will captivate local tastes not only with over 800 types of K-food products such as ramen, snacks, and deli foods but also with instant cooked products like tteokbokki and dakgangjeong, representative Korean dishes. Especially, as foreign customers’ interest in ‘Hangang Ramen’ increases, instant ramen cookers have been installed to differentiate from local distributors. Korean representative street food corn dogs and Central Asian representative food samsa are also produced directly at the in-house food manufacturing center and supplied to the stores.

BGF Retail plans to open two additional stores in Almaty, Kazakhstan, within this month. The second store in Kazakhstan will be CU Konayeva 43, located in another key commercial area of Almaty, densely populated with shopping malls and stores. The third store, CU Abay Street 10, will open near a university, shopping district, and subway station.

BGF Retail plans to open 50 stores in Kazakhstan by the end of this year and more than 500 stores in total over five years. Afterwards, it plans to further solidify the position of the global K-convenience store by expanding into neighboring countries.

Hong Jung-guk, Vice Chairman of BGF Retail, said, “The systematic franchise system and unique brand power that BGF has built over the past 34 years are now meeting partners worldwide and leading to greater growth. We hope that CU, which took its historic first step in Kazakhstan today, will grow into a representative convenience store brand in Kazakhstan, and it will also play a significant role as an export foothold for small and medium-sized Korean partner companies.”

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