South Korea's BGF opens first convenience store in Iran

By bne IntelliNews November 22, 2017

BGF Retail Co, operator of South Korea’s largest convenience store CU, has opened its first retail store in Iran, Yonhap News agency reported on November 22. The retailer added that the move was its first foray beyond traditional territory.

Iran has seen a resurgence in micro-supermarkets in recent years with several Iranian, including expatriate Iranian, families opening stores across the country.

The launch of the CU store in Tehran has occurred about four months after the company signed an agreement with Iranian firm Entekhab Investment Development Group to tap into Iran.

"Iran is the largest market in the Middle East with over 80 million people," noted Hong Jung-kuk, vice president of BGF Retail. "We will accelerate our global expansion after making a successful landing on the Iranian market."

There is a lot of potential to grow market share because the convenience store sector remains dominated by small independent retailers. According to recent numbers from the Statistical Centre of Iran, some 90% of all grocery sales continue to be made by the country’s 300,000 independent retailers.

The only existing foreign food retailer in the country is owned by France’s Carrefour, which through a joint venture created local chain HyperStar more than 10 years ago. The chain runs 12 stores across Iran with the latest opening this month taking place in a new mall basement in Tehran.

Iranian-owned hard discounters now make up the biggest combined share of stores across the country, which are opening one store per week, according to previous reports.

On November 21, Turkey’s BIM, the largest hard-discount supermarket chain in that country, dismissed media reports suggesting that it has already decided it will invest in Iran.

“Market research in Iran continues, but our company has not yet taken any definite decision,” BIM said in a filing with Borsa Istanbul on November 20.

Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported over the weekend that following market research in Iran, BIM had decided to push ahead with supermarket openings in Iran.

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