Convenience store GS25 widened its lead over CU, which had been narrowing quickly for a while, and kept the No. 1 spot in industry sales last year. Observers said GS Retail CEO Hur Suh-hong's "sound management" policy, set when he took office early last year, led to stronger competitiveness at existing stores and defense of key commercial districts, producing results. CU plans to speed up its chase of GS25 this year with expansion focused on high-quality stores, setting a goal of a net increase of 300 stores.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System (DART) on the 19th, GS Retail recorded 8.9397 trillion won in sales last year in its convenience store (GS25) institutional sector, up 3.2% from a year earlier. During the same period, BGF Retail's convenience store (CU) institutional sector sales totaled 8.8581 trillion won, up 3.1% from a year earlier.
The sales gap between the two companies narrowed from 202.2 billion won in 2022 to 114.0 billion won in 2023 and 73.8 billion won in 2024, but widened again to 81.6 billion won last year. Given CU's momentum, many expected the gap to narrow further, but GS25 ultimately pulled ahead again.
Industry watchers said the "sound management" stance of GS Retail CEO Hur Suh-hong, who took office early last year, bolstered GS25's hold on the top spot by strengthening competitiveness at existing stores and defending key commercial districts. From the outset, Hur focused on lifting sales at existing stores rather than simply increasing the number of locations and, instead of keeping low-profit stores, concentrated resources on enhancing the competitiveness of stores in core trade areas and prime locations.
In particular, GS25 has made the "scrap and build (Scrap&Build)" strategy—a program to remodel stores whose performance has been stagnant for more than a year and reopen in areas with stronger commercial appeal—a key pillar. As a result, GS25's existing-store (stores operating for at least one full year after opening) sales growth rate steadily rose last year: 0.9% in the first quarter, 0.1% in the second, 4.4% in the third, and 3.6% in the fourth.
Hur is also putting weight behind strengthening convenience store competitiveness this year. Late last year, through an organizational reshuffle, the company overhauled its two-BU structure, previously run as "Platform BU (convenience stores and supermarkets)" and "Home Shopping BU," and elevated the convenience store division and the supermarket division into separate BUs to establish a three-BU structure.
This is seen as a move away from the previous model of managing convenience stores and supermarkets under a single platform organization, in order to craft strategies tailored to each business's characteristics and market environment and to boost execution. Because product lineup, store-opening strategies, and operations differ by retail format, analysts say the intent is to separate the organizations to build a more precise and nimble decision-making system.
CU plans to continue pursuing GS25 this year with aggressive store expansion and specialization strategies. It set a goal of a net increase of 300 stores and will expand new openings centered on prime locations. To that end, it will open about 1,300 stores this year and rationalize around 1,000 inefficient stores. Rather than merely increasing the number of stores, it intends to reorganize its network around highly profitable locations to lift both topline growth and operational efficiency.
CU is also accelerating the expansion of differentiated stores. As competition to differentiate product assortments has intensified across the convenience store industry, its strategy is to enhance competitiveness by adding experiential elements to the stores themselves. CU recently unveiled a running-specialty store at Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul and will sequentially remodel 18 stores near Hangang parks in Magok, Mangwon, Yeouido, Banpo, Jamsil, and Ttukseom. Last month, it also opened a differentiated store, "CU Seongsu Dessert Park," in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, featuring desserts as the core theme.
Cho Sang-hoon, an analyst at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "Since 2024, structural adjustments such as store closures and remodels have continued in the convenience store industry, accelerating a tilt toward top players," adding, "Mid-to-large prime stores that have survived will drive results."