Popular Korean convenience store emart24 plans to open 17 more outlets in the East Coast this year due to strong customer demand for its affordable Korean street food and drinks made from halal ingredients.
Chief executive officer of emart24 Holdings Sdn Bhd Vuitton Pang said this after a visit to emart24 at KTCC Mall here by Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar and Ambassador of South Korea Yeo Seung-Bae recently.
“We are encouraged by the extremely strong response from Malaysian consumers especially those in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. Being grateful for the tremendous support for emart24, we want to serve our customers wherever they are, even in the smallest towns,” Pang said.
emart24’s plans to increase its East Coast outlets from the current 28 to 45 by the end of this year will also create hundreds of jobs for locals. Its stores in East Coast now serves almost 300,000 customers each month.
“We plan to more than double our store count in Terengganu from seven to 15 by year-end while in Kelantan, we are already firm on opening six more to add to the current 14 stores there.
“For Pahang, we have earmarked three store locations already to make it 10 by year-end from seven currently,” he said, adding that the company was always open to proposals from property owners who felt there was a need for the store in their neighbourhood.
emart24 now has 65 stores in Malaysia and plans to expand its network to 300 within five years. “With our consistent quality and affordable Korean street food and drinks served in a modern sleek ambience, we are confident of meeting the tastes and preferences of Malaysian consumers,” Pang added.
Owned by Shinsegae Group, the largest retailer in South Korea, emart24 is the fastest-growing convenience store brand in South Korea with more than 7,000 outlets in various formats and store sizes.
It entered Malaysia, its first overseas market, in 2021 and has adopted a tagline of Rasa Korea, Hari Ceria, to fit its brand position of being the “destination for tasty Korean Street Food to brighten up your day”.
The outlet at KTCC Mall was a hive of activity during the recent K-Culture Festival held there and both the Menteri Besar and the Korean Ambassador tried the newly-launched Jjajajang Tteokbokki.
Its other popular menu items are Cupbap, Corn Sausage, Korean Fried Chicken, pouch drinks and Ramyun which customers could prepare themselves at the store.