Lotte Mart Returns to Guri After Four Years
The Only Large-Scale Mart in Guri, Contributing to Local Economic Vitality
90% of First Floor Dedicated to Food, Customized Shopping Space for Customers in Their 30s and 40s
The Grand Grocery Guri Branch is located at the site where Lotte Mart operated its Guri branch from 1999 to 2021. After Lotte Mart closed, a food material mart took over the location but shut down due to poor management, leading to a significant gap in large-scale retail stores in the area. In response, Guri City actively sought to attract a large supermarket to improve residents' quality of life and revitalize the local economy. Lotte Mart also recognized the importance of the northeastern Gyeonggi market and worked closely with Guri City to make this new opening possible.
Lotte Mart has designed the store as a next-generation format that combines the strengths of offline grocery with a 'malling' experience. The first floor features the 'Grand Grocery' format, introduced for the second time after the Eunpyeong branch. Notably, 90% of the total floor space is dedicated to food products.
At the store entrance, a 30-meter-long 'Long Deli Road' welcomes customers. This area includes the in-house bakery 'Pungmiso,' as well as specialty deli zones such as 'Yorihada Kitchen' and 'Yorihada Sushi.' The deli product selection has been expanded by about 50% compared to previous stores, offering a wide variety of options including low-calorie items like 'Kito Gimbap' and 'Memilmyeon Gimbap,' as well as health-boosting dishes such as 'Bokjangeo Sushi' and 'Gwanja Rice Bowl.' The 'Daily Meal Solution,' a specialized frozen ready-meal section, features around 500 different convenient meal options.
The 'Global Cuisine' section offers the largest selection of international seasonings and condiments among all Lotte Mart stores. In the dairy section, wellness trends are addressed by segmenting categories such as sugar-free, low-sugar, and low-fat products, as well as Greek yogurt and natural cheeses. The 'Imported Goods Specialty Zone' exclusively offers popular items often purchased by travelers abroad, such as Taiwan's 'Sansugong Seolhwabyeong' and Japan's 'Suntory Iyemon Kyoto Lemonade.'
Price stabilization products have also been expanded. Grand Grocery selects 10 fresh food items each week and offers them at ultra-low prices. In the meat section, a wholesale-style 'retail pack' allows customers to prepare their own meat. In cooperation with Guri City, 'Guri City Win-Win Vegetables,' sourced from the Guri Agricultural and Marine Products Wholesale Market, are sold at prices more than 30% lower than regular products.
The second floor is designed as a 'customer-stay type store,' strengthening the 'Kids & Family' content with features such as Toys "R" Us, a cultural center, and a book cafe. Spanning approximately 1,100 pyeong, this experiential malling space targets young families in their 30s and 40s, the main demographic of the Guri commercial district.
The Toys "R" Us store operates various brand shops in a shop-in-shop format, including 'Pororo·Tayo Specialty Hall,' 'Catch! Teenieping Brand Shop,' and 'Bandai Store,' creating a space that appeals to all age groups from infants to adults. It also offers LEGO and board game experience zones, as well as a variety of seasonal pop-up stores, providing a rich mix of shopping and play content.
For the first time at Lotte Mart, the cultural center will feature a directly managed 'TnTn Plus' center. Professional instructors will offer premium programs that combine physical education, art, and music. There will also be specialized classes tailored to young adults' interests, such as dance, musical instruments, and crafts, as well as a wide range of weekend family experience courses.
Additionally, Lotte Mart plans to actively utilize the Guri branch as a key hub for its online grocery business, 'Lotte Mart Zeta,' in the northeastern Gyeonggi region. On April 1, Lotte Mart officially launched the AI-powered 'Lotte Mart Zeta' app in partnership with UK retail tech specialist Ocado to strengthen its online competitiveness. Customers can experience the same Grand Grocery Guri Branch products online, enjoying differentiated food content and a variety of benefits with added convenience.
Kang Sung-hyun, CEO of Lotte Mart and Lotte Super, stated, "As Lotte Mart returns to Guri City after four years, we are presenting our next-generation model by combining the grocery-specialized 'Grand Grocery' format with a malling-type store focused on kids and families. We will utilize the Grand Grocery Guri Branch as a key hub for the 'Lotte Mart Zeta' online grocery business in the northeastern Gyeonggi region, providing the best shopping environment that will satisfy Guri residents both online and offline."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.

