The convenience store GS25, operated by GS Retail(007070), said on the 3rd it opened the 1,000th fresh-focused store.
The new store is the 40-pyeong "GS25 Cheonan Dujeong Golden" that opened in Dujeong-dong, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. It is located in a residential commercial area behind a large apartment complex.
Fresh-focused stores are a specialized model aimed at nearby grocery shopping demand by expanding assortments of fresh foods such as vegetables, fruit, eggs, and meat. GS25 first introduced the fresh-focused store in 2021, and in five years the number surpassed 1,000 locations.
In particular, even when openings of general stores slowed last year, fresh-focused stores increased by 217, and this year, by the first half alone, 226 more were added, surpassing last year's growth.
GS25 said it built a fresh-food operation system in convenience stores by leveraging GS The Fresh's sourcing capabilities, production-area network, and product operation know-how. Currently, fresh-focused stores sell about 2,000 kinds of fresh foods, including vegetables, fruit, chilled meat, and seafood.
It also improved the logistics system. In 2024, GS25 established a roughly 600-pyeong "convenience store fresh hub" at its Hwaseong center in Gyeonggi Province, cutting the time from ordering to receiving from the previous two days to one day. The sellable period for products increased by more than a day, enabling sales of fresher products, and reduced disposal burdens led to increased franchisee revenue.
Average daily sales at fresh-focused stores were found to be more than 1 million won higher than at general stores. On a monthly basis, that translates to an additional sales effect of about 30 million won or more.
In the first half of this year, fresh-food sales were tallied at about 12 times those of general stores. Sales of livestock products were 51 times higher than general stores, and egg and tofu sales were 661% and 640% higher, respectively. The number of transactions and average transaction value were also recorded as 36% and 15% higher, respectively, than general stores.
GS25 plans to advance the fresh-focused store as a win-win model that goes beyond improving franchisee profitability to also contribute to boosting consumption of domestic agricultural, livestock, and marine products and securing stable sales channels for farms.
Hong Gi-yeong, head of GS25's Fresh Reinforcement Support Team, said, "Fresh-focused stores are an example of expanding the role of convenience stores in line with changing consumption structures and trends," adding, "We will develop them as a core strategy that enhances franchisee profitability and drives qualitative growth in the convenience store business."