ROK supermarket chain to close last store in China

NANJING - E-Mart, a major supermarket chain from the Republic of Korea, will entirely leave the Chinese market following the closure of its last Chinese outlet next week.

The outlet in Wuxi city in East China's Jiangsu province is slated to be shut down on Jan 31, according to a company announcement.

Run by Shinsegae Group, E-Mart has been in China for 20 years. It used to have nearly 30 outlets in the country, but only six survived in 2017 due to tepid sales. The remaining five Chinese outlets have been sold to Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group.

The Wuxi store allegedly saw brisk sales when it opened in 2008, but recorded losses of 20 million yuan ($3.12 million) last year, according to a manager of the outlet, who declined to be named.

The manager said the outlet recorded annual losses of nearly 10 million yuan when he took on the job in 2013.

He attributed its failure to booming online shopping and fierce competition among offline supermarkets.

As of the end of 2016, E-Mart logged accumulated losses of 900 million yuan in the Chinese market. Shinsegae announced the retreat of E-Mart last year.