Chairman Chung Yongjin Visits "Traders Incheon Guwol Branch" Ahead of Lunar New Year... Third On-Site Management of the Year

Encouraging On-Site Staff...Inspected Holiday Gift Sets and More
Emphasizing the Significance of Traders' Growth
"Innovation That Stays One Step Ahead Without Resting on Our Laurels Must Continue"

Chung Yongjin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, carried out his third on-site management activity of the year at the warehouse discount store Traders Incheon Guwol Branch ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

According to Shinsegae Group on February 10, Chairman Chung visited Traders Incheon Guwol Branch the previous day, expressed his gratitude to on-site employees, and asked, "Since this is a holiday period when many customers visit, please pay even more attention to store safety and quality control." He added, "I hesitated because I thought you would be busy preparing for the holiday, but I really wanted to meet you in person at least once and say thank you." To customers who greeted him in the store, he responded by saying, "Please visit us often."

Chung Yongjin, Chairman of Shinsegae Group (center), is inspecting products in the meat section during a visit to the Traders Guwol store in Incheon on the 9th, a week before the Lunar New Year holiday. Photo by Shinsegae Group

Chairman Chung toured the No Brand store and the restaurant area, and then checked core products such as fresh food and the holiday gift set section. He also visited a roadshow that planned the product "Dujjonku (Dubai Chewy Cookie)," which has recently drawn attention by causing "open-run" lines and "sold-out chaos." He said, "Traders was created by closely examining changes in the future retail market instead of resting on our laurels when hypermarkets were enjoying a boom," adding, "Seeing it today, I can feel that it has evolved to another level."

Chairman Chung's visit to the Guwol Branch marks his third on-site management activity this year, following visits last month to Starfield Market Jukjeon and Starfield Village Unjeong. Opened in September last year, the Guwol Branch is the most recently opened Traders location and the largest in the country. It consists of a directly operated store of 9,586 square meters (about 2,900 pyeong) and tenant (leased store) space of 5,851 square meters (about 1,700 pyeong). Since opening, it has renewed the store’s all-time highest sales record and is currently ranked second in sales among Traders stores nationwide, after the Hanam Branch.

As interest has grown in warehouse discount stores where customers can shop for groceries with strong value for money amid high inflation, Traders posted sales of 1.004 trillion won in the third quarter of last year, surpassing 1 trillion won in quarterly sales for the first time. Its cumulative operating profit for the first through third quarters of last year also increased by 27.2% year-on-year.

Chairman Chung said, "When we opened the first Traders store 16 years ago, there were concerns about the warehouse discount store model, which was unfamiliar to customers, and questions about whether we really needed to do this, but the result of steadfastly continuing innovation is the Traders you see today." He went on to say, "Going forward, we must not be satisfied with our current performance but continue to seek new growth drivers, and we must not stop there but keep developing them. That is how we will survive in an increasingly fierce retail market."

Traders plans to open a new store in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, at the end of this year.

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