Something About Retail

When I first came to Korea I was amazed at the number of foreign-owned retail chains. Here are the ones I can think of off the top of my head: Mc Donald's, Burger King, KFC, Domino's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Outback Steak House, TGI Friday's, VIP'S, Starbuck's, Dunkin' Doughnuts, Baskin Robin's, Dairy Queen, Popey's Chicken, Wal Mart, Carrefour and Costco. I know there are more, but it's too early in the morning to think about them.

While it seems in Canada that these stores keep popping up everywhere, they seem to be disappearing everywhere in Korea. Both Mc Donald's and Baskin Robbin's have pulled out of Nonsan, and seem to be closing many stores across the country. It was announced last month that Carrefour, a French-owned discount department store, is pulling out it's stores from the country. Now this morning I read that Wal Mart is pulling out of Korea! They will be selling all of their products and stores to E Mart, a Korean-owned discount department store. While I don't shop at Wal Mart that often it is a reliable source of cat litter.

Now I'm getting nervous. If Costco pulls out of Korea, I'm screwed! I would say that 85% of the groceries in my apartment were bought at Costco. Actually, off all the chains listed, I think Costco is the safest to stay put. While Wal Mart has 16 outlets in Korea, Costco has only 5. Hopefully Costco will be able to hold on for at least another year.