Reporting and analysis on retail, e-commerce, and consumer trends in Korea, updated continuously by our newsroom.
A heritage cafe has been built into the hereditary foundations of a century-old South Korean courtyard house (hanok) in Seoul. J Hidden House cafe opened its doors in the fashion and shopping mecca of Dongdaemun this month, following Seoul’s continued efforts…
LG U+ has successfully tested a 5G-powered self-driving vehicle on an expressway for the first time. The mobile carrier announced Tuesday that a self-driving car developed by Hanyang University successfully drove on LG U+’s 5G network for 25 minutes across…
South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific is ramping up its Asean expansion, opening the first Innisfree and Laneige Philippines stores. Amorepacific established Amorepacific Philippines in Metro Manila in August and has since opened the first Innisfree…
LACOSTE has opened a new 30sqm duty-free store in Busan to further enhance their presence in Asia. This new store is located in LOTTE Duty Free, second largest duty free operator, in Busan, which is the second biggest city in South Korea. Travel Retail, often…
Hyundai Motor and Algerian car maker Global Group signed a deal on Monday to establish a joint venture to produce commercial cars in Algeria. The joint venture will operate a factory that assembles knock down kits in Batna, Algeria. The assembly facility is…
Hyundai Motor luxury brand Genesis is starting a car subscription service, the first such effort by a domestic automaker in Korea. The company Thursday announced its Genesis Spectrum program. Under the program, subscribers can drive Genesis vehicles –…
Nike Korea’s revenue is forecast to exceed 1 trillion won ($884.27 million) in 2018. If all goes as expected, it will be the first sportswear company in Korea to achieve that milestone. Nike’s annual revenues in Korea have been rising by around 10 percent…
Twenty-seven people have been awarded the auspicious title of beer sommelier by discount chain Homeplus. The discount chain’s first Macmelie Contest – macmelie is a portmanteau of the Korean word maekju, or beer, and sommelier – on Saturday saw 200…
ondon-based high-end furniture and home furnishing store chain The Conran Shop will open its first South Korean outlet in the second half of next year in partnership with the country’s leading department store chain Lotte Department Store. Lotte Department…
Kakao Mobility announced las week that it would postpone the official launch of its carpooling service after a week of fierce protests from the local taxi industry. The Kakao affiliate started offering a beta version of the service last Friday that was made…
Attractive prices and returns have seen the number of Chinese customers buying high-end apartments in HCMC soar this year. Duong Thuy Dung, senior director of real estate market research firm CBRE Vietnam, said at a recent forum that 31 percent of high-end…
Demand for party supplies from South Korean retailers is soaring as a growing number of people prefer to host end-of-year celebrations at home instead of going out. According to E-Mart, wine and cake sales at six stores in Daegu last month soared 18.9 per…
Hyundai Motor Group has introduced a 1.67 trillion won ($1.49 billion) support program for small and midsized auto parts suppliers, the company said Thursday. As auto parts suppliers in Korea tend to be highly dependent on the performance of carmakers, the…
Samsung Electronics was the No. 1 investor in R&D in the world this year, according a report from the European Commission. The annual R&D Investment Scoreboard report released by the commission analyzes R&D indicators of top companies in the world, based on…
The National Tax Service (NTS) launched an investigation into Google Korea on Wednesday, sending an official to secure accounting documents at the company’s office in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. The investigation is thought to be into YouTubers…
Hyundai Motor Group said it will invest 7.6 trillion won ($6.7 billion) in fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) by 2030, betting big on hydrogen as the energy source for the future. The group announced what it called its “FCEV Vision 2030” on Tuesday, promising…
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