GS25, one of the leading South Korean convenience store chains, entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian retailer KK Group on 9 July 2022. The deal will see KK as the franchise holder for GS25 in Malaysia. KK will open the first GS25 store in the Southeast Asian country in 2023.
KK currently operates over 600 outlets mainly convenience store in Malaysia. Malaysia will be the third foreign destination for GS25 after Vietnam (160 outlets) and Mongolia (70 stores).
The Malaysian convenience store segment has attracted the interest of Korean players with BGF Retail having opened its 100th CU store in Perak and E-Mart 24 expanded the store network to 20 outlets. CU plans to open its maiden store in East Malaysia soon.
Operators will focus on the high margin prepared foods and private brands as well as store ambience to drive sales and to offer a point of differentiation from competitors. Around half of E-Mart 24’s sales in Malaysia come from instant foods such as tteokbokki, dakgangjeong and gimbap.
