CU (Korean: 씨유; RR: Ssiyu) (KRX: 027410) is a South Korean convenience store chain owned and operated by BGF Retail. It was formed after FamilyMart's franchise license in South Korea expired.[2]
History
In 1990, the Bogwang Group formed a license contract with FamilyMart to launch convenience stores under the FamilyMart brand in South Korea.[3] The first FamilyMart in South Korea opened in October 1990.[4] On December 1, 1994, the Bogwang Group established a separate corporation; Bogwang FamilyMart (now the BGF Group) to oversee its convenience store operations division.[5] The chain enjoyed steady growth, reaching 2,000 stores in 2003 and 5,000 stores by 2010.[6]
Bogwang FamilyMart officially changed its name to BGF Retail on June 8, 2012, and subsequently announced the launching of its new convenience store brand "CU".[3] South Korea's FamilyMart was officially renamed to CU on August 1, 2012, along with the opening of the first store utilizing the new name.[7] The change came as BGF Retail aimed to create a "Korean-style" convenience store and cease its payment of royalties to FamilyMart.[8]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to CU (company).
In April 2019, CU has started a delivery service, and magnified the service to 1000 stores in May.[9]
in Oct 2024, Convenience store CU announced that it has introduced the industry's first door-to-door home delivery service.[10]
Foreign operations
Iran
CU launched its first foreign store in November 2018, in Tehran, Iran. However, the store had not even operated for a month when it had to close because of the United States' sanctions against Iran.
Kazakhstan
The first store opened in March 2024 in Almaty. In general, the project provides for the opening of about one hundred CU shops in Kazakhstan at the first stage. By 2029, BGF Retail plans to open 500 outlets in Kazakhstan and is also considering entering neighbouring markets.[11]
CU opened its first stores within Malaysia in 2021, after reaching a partnership with local convenience store company myNews Holdings Bhd. CU plans to open 500 stores within Malaysia by 2026; the group will initially open 30 to 50 CU stores and assess their sales performance before expanding further. In April 2021, CU opened its first store in Centerpoint Bandar Utama.[12][13]
Mongolia
CU has opened 304 stores in Ulaanbaatar, 1 store in Darkhan-Uul, Mongolia, as of December 2022. Also, they planned to expand the number of branches from 200 to 240 by the end of the 2022. CU competes with another Korean convenience chain, GS25, which has 124 stores throughout the capital region.
Brazil
In October 2024, a previously operating ramen shop in Liberdade, São Paulo named "Rappa Ramen" rebranded as a CU store.[14] This rebrand went viral online, as "cu" is a slang term for "anus" in Portuguese.[15] The store uses the old (2012–2017) aesthetic elements from the Korean brand.
^"엇갈리는 편의점 '빅2' 실적...점포수 앞선 CU, 실적도 GS25 추월하나". 11 November 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2024. 실제 지난해 말 기준 CU의 점포 수는 1만4923개로 전년 말 대비 1046개 늘어 1만4668개인 GS25를 235개 차이로 제치고 1위로 올라섰다. [In fact, as of the end of last year, CU had 14,923 stores, up 1,046 from the end of the previous year, beating GS25's 14,668 by 235 stores and taking first place.]
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