Hotel Shilla Explores Senior Residence Business
Shinsegae Focuses on Main Store Town Development and Luxury Strategy
GS Retail Appoints Fourth-Generation Owner Heo Seohong as CEO... "Focus on Strengthening Fundamentals"
Lotte Hi-Mart Seeks Breakthrough Through New Businesses Amid Appliance Retail Market Slump
Hotel Shilla, Shinsegae, GS Retail, and Lotte Hi-Mart held their regular general meetings of shareholders on the 20th, marking the start of the distribution industry's 'Shareholders' Meeting Day.' These companies declared to their shareholders their commitment to strengthening core business competitiveness and accelerating the discovery of future growth engines through new businesses to overcome challenging domestic and international conditions.
Lee Boo-jin, President of Hotel Shilla, is leaving the general shareholders' meeting held on the 20th at Hotel Shilla Jangchung Office in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
Hotel Shilla Explores New Senior Residence Business
Hotel Shilla held its 52nd regular general meeting of shareholders on the morning of the day at its Jangchung office in Jangchung-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, approving six agenda items: ▲amendment of the articles of incorporation ▲financial statements for the 52nd fiscal year ▲appointment of directors ▲appointment of audit committee members ▲appointment of directors to become audit committee members ▲and the limit on directors' remuneration. Lee Boo-jin, President of Hotel Shilla, who has chaired the shareholders' meeting for 14 years, said in her greeting to shareholders, "The management environment surrounding the company is expected to worsen compared to previous years this year," adding, "At times like this, we will focus on the 'essence of the business' of each operation, continuously launch attractive products from the customer's perspective, improve profitability through operational efficiency, and overcome the crisis through diverse and bold attempts to lay the foundation for new growth."
Among the approved agenda items was the addition of 'comprehensive resort business,' 'condominium sales and operation business,' and 'installation and operation of senior housing and leisure welfare business' to the business objectives. The senior housing and leisure welfare installation and operation business item is intended for future entry into the senior residence business, which integrates premium hotel-level services such as meals, housing, and activities for middle-aged and older adults.
Industry insiders view this as Hotel Shilla, which posted losses in its core duty-free business, laying the groundwork for new businesses. On a consolidated basis, Hotel Shilla's sales last year increased by 10.6% year-on-year to 3.95 trillion KRW, but it recorded an operating loss of 5.2 billion KRW. This was due to losses of 69.7 billion KRW in the duty-free business segment, affected by commissions to Chinese daigou (personal shoppers) and rental costs at Incheon International Airport.
President Lee stated, "We will undertake various activities to enhance customer interest and appeal in duty-free shopping, which declined after the COVID-19 pandemic," adding, "We will differentiate ourselves by proactively attracting various brands and products that meet the changing needs of travelers." She also said, "In the hotel and leisure sector, we will expand pipelines in optimal domestic and international locations and secure sustainable growth engines beyond Shilla Stay and Shilla Monogram."
Shinsegae Focuses on Main Store Town Development and Luxury Strategy
Shinsegae also approved agenda items including ▲financial statements for the 68th fiscal year ▲appointment of directors ▲appointment of directors to become audit committee members ▲appointment of audit committee members ▲and the limit on directors' remuneration at its shareholders' meeting held at Post Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul. This year, the company plans to secure competitive advantages through focusing on the 'customer-centric' essence, producing innovative content, discovering growth engines in new businesses, and strengthening profitability. Specifically, it highlighted the successful promotion of the Shinsegae Department Store main store town development, the grand opening of the Gangnam Shinsegae Market, strengthening luxury lineups at the Daegu and Daejeon stores, and presenting new business models that integrate online and offline channels.
Park Joo-hyung, CEO of Shinsegae, declared, "Based on a deep understanding of customers' lifestyles accumulated over many years, we will establish ourselves as a 'comprehensive lifestyle developer' proposing advanced value beyond retail to customers," adding, "We will secure new growth engines through large projects such as the Gwangju complex development, Songdo, Suseo Station, and Centum City, and strengthen our market leadership based on these."
In the second half of this year, SSG Food Market Cheongdam will be newly launched. CEO Park added, "The offline food hall project newly introduced at the Cheongdam store will become a unique business model exclusive to Shinsegae, and we plan to continuously strengthen and expand branding."
GS Retail Appoints 4th Generation Owner Heo Seo-hong as CEO... "Focus on Strengthening Fundamentals"
GS Retail approved the appointment of Heo Seo-hong as an inside director and the appointment of new outside directors and audit committee members at its shareholders' meeting held at the GS Retail Northeast Office in Gangdong-gu, Seoul. Heo, the 4th generation owner of the GS Group, was appointed CEO of GS Retail in the GS Group executive personnel reshuffle last November.
Under Heo's leadership this year, GS Retail plans to strengthen responsible management and focus on three directions: ▲customer-centric management ▲bold investments to enhance core competitiveness ▲and strengthening communication with the field. Specifically, investments will be made in digital transformation (DX) and artificial intelligence (AI) utilization to advance the business model.
Oh Jin-seok, head of GS Retail's Platform BU and vice president, who chaired the shareholders' meeting, said, "As structural changes are expected across the distribution industry by 2025, competition among companies for survival will intensify," adding, "We will focus on strengthening fundamentals rather than external growth and achieve sustainable business growth."
Lotte Hi-Mart Seeks Breakthrough Through New Businesses Amidst Appliance Retail Market Slump
Lotte Hi-Mart will approve an agenda item to add 'manufacturing of electronic, electrical, telecommunications machinery and related equipment and other related accessories' and 'door-to-door sales and related services' to its business objectives at the shareholders' meeting held at the Lotte Hi-Mart Building in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. This is a plan to find a breakthrough by exploring new businesses amid stagnation in the offline appliance retail market.
The door-to-door sales-related business aims to induce purchases by having appliance installation technicians or professional consultants visit customers' homes to recommend related products or introduce more efficient products. A Lotte Hi-Mart official said, "This is intended to improve consultation convenience for elderly customers and others who find it difficult to visit offline stores directly," adding, "It can be seen as a preemptive response to an aging society."
The manufacturing business of electronic, electrical, telecommunications machinery and related equipment and other related accessories aims to strengthen competitiveness in the assembled PC sector. Previously, assembled PCs were sold by specifications at stores, but in the future, the plan is to produce various specifications according to customer orders.
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