Global retail chain Costco will open for the first time in the Gwangju–South Jeolla region in Sunwol District, Suncheon.
South Jeolla Province, Suncheon City, and the Gwangyang Bay Area Free Economic Zone Authority signed an investment agreement with Costco Korea on the 30th at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul in Yeouido.
Under the agreement, Costco will invest 102 billion won in Sunwol District, Haeryong-myeon, Suncheon, to build a store of about 46,700 square meters, aiming to open in the second half of 2028.
Suncheon City has worked to attract a complex shopping mall, a long-cherished regional project. With a previous attempt having fallen through, the city is said to have pursued a meticulous attraction strategy while communicating closely with Costco.
The city projected that more than 13 million people a year would flow in as the daily population from not only South Jeolla but also Gwangju, South Gyeongsang, and Jeju, and that about 250 jobs would be created. In addition, it plans to draw 10 million tourists who visit Suncheon, including the National Garden, into the downtown to establish itself as the economic center of the South Coast. It also appears this will relieve the demand among shoppers who had traveled for "out-of-town shopping" to Costco Gimhae and Daejeon.
Suncheon City also decided to actively prepare win-win measures with small business owners and neighborhood commercial districts, where backlash is expected. It plans to include in the win-win agreement provisions such as preferential hiring of local talent, expanded sales channels for local agricultural products and outstanding small and midsize enterprise products, and win-win cooperation with traditional markets.
Costco Korea CEO Cho Min-su said, "It took more than a dozen years to enter Suncheon, and only today have we seen results," and added, "We will contribute to the regional economy through job creation for local residents and shared growth with small business owners."
Suncheon Mayor Noh Gwan-gyu said, "Costco will draw in a broad consumer base to revive the regional economy and serve as a key to urban growth that responds to the risk of local extinction through new job creation," and added, "We will do our best to create a cooperation model in which small business owners and large retail chains can coexist."