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7-Eleven store chain company is hastening the conversion of Ministop stores in South Korea to become its own outlets. The works are ongoing as it wants to fully complete the changeover by the end of 2023.
As per The Korea Herald, Lotte Group's Korea Seven, which operates the 7-Eleven convenience stores in the country, said it is accelerating the conversion of Ministop outlets to secure its position in the market as one of the top three local convenience store operators.
Korea Seven bought the rights to Ministop earlier this year with the aim of building economies of scale against convenience store chain brands, including CU, which has 15,855 stores, and GS25, which operates 15,453 stores.
Moreover, Lotte’s affiliate, Lotte CVS 711, reportedly transferred an additional KRW20.5 billion or around $16 million, to Korea Seven to speed up the transformation of Ministop stores across the nation.
"With the assets, the company is expecting to accelerate the conversion of the two brands," one official of Korea Seven told The Korea Herald. "The plan is to convert 100% of Ministop stores by the end of 2023. The convenience store industry is heavily affected by 'economies of scale.' Increasing the sheer amount of stores is the most important thing right now.”
The company shared that as of last month, it has already converted 850 Ministop stores to 7-Eleven. This is said to be 32.6% of the total Ministops, which numbers 2,600.
The Korea Seven official further explained that by raising the number of stores, they could be in an advantageous position when negotiating with suppliers. Thus, they can diminish the costs needed for the production of 7-Eleven’s exclusive merchandise.
Meanwhile, Korea Joongang Daily mentioned that the local Fair Trade Commission (FTC) granted the approval for Lotte CVS to buy Ministop Korea from Japan's Aeon Group for KRW313.3 billion or about $256.9 million in March. Lotte CVS is a special purpose firm owned by Korea Seven, and it was launched in February for the purpose of acquiring Ministop Korea.
Photo by Duy Nguyen/Unsplash
