EMART
South Korea's pioneering hypermarket and discount-store brand, operated by Emart Inc. of the Shinsegae Group.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
EMART is the flagship hypermarket and discount-retail brand of South Korea's Shinsegae Group. It began operations on November 12, 1993, when Shinsegae opened the first Emart store in Chang-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul. The launch introduced a large-format discount-store model to the Korean market and helped establish modern hypermarket retail as a major shopping channel alongside department stores, traditional markets, and smaller neighborhood stores. The chain sells a broad mix of groceries, fresh food, packaged food, beverages, household supplies, consumer electronics, clothing, home goods, and seasonal merchandise. Its value proposition combines supermarket convenience with the breadth and purchasing scale of a general merchandise retailer. Emart has also developed private-label and specialist formats, including No Brand, a value-oriented product line, PEACOCK, a food and prepared-meal brand, and Emart Traders, a warehouse-style membership-free format that competes with large warehouse clubs. During its early growth, Emart expanded rapidly throughout South Korea, opening branches in areas including Ilsan, Ansan, Bupyeong, Jeju, Bundang, Namwon, Anyang, and western Busan. It launched an online shopping mall in 2004 and acquired Walmart Korea in 2006, converting the acquired stores into Emart locations. The acquisition substantially increased its physical presence and reinforced its position as a national-scale retailer. The company has also adjusted its store portfolio over time by closing or redeveloping underperforming stores and by selling its interest in Costco Korea. Emart was an early Korean retailer to pursue international expansion. It entered China in 1997 and operated a substantial network there before withdrawing from the market in 2017. It entered Vietnam in 2015 and Mongolia in 2016, with the Mongolian business established in partnership with Altai Holding. In Vietnam, the operating model later changed when THISO acquired Emart Vietnam and obtained an exclusive franchise license for the brand. Emart's convenience-store format, Emart24, expanded separately into Malaysia and Singapore and has pursued additional licensing arrangements in overseas markets. The group has increasingly combined store retail with e-commerce, foodservice, private-label goods, and overseas consumer businesses. In 2018, Emart acquired Good Food Holdings, the parent of Bristol Farms in the United States, and Good Food Holdings subsequently acquired New Seasons Market. In 2022, Emart acquired an 80.01 percent majority stake in eBay Korea, which was renamed Gmarket Global, broadening the group's exposure to online marketplaces. Emart remains one of South Korea's best-known large-format retailers. Its competitive environment includes domestic hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, convenience stores, online marketplaces, department stores, and rapidly growing grocery-delivery platforms. The brand's continuing challenges include shifting consumer behavior toward online purchasing, pressure on physical-store productivity, changing food and labor costs, and the need to distinguish large stores through private labels, prepared food, services, and omnichannel shopping.
History
Emart was created by Shinsegae as South Korea's first large discount retailer. Its inaugural store opened in Chang-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul, on November 12, 1993. A second branch followed in Ilsan New Town in September 1994, and the chain continued adding stores across major urban and regional markets during the rest of the 1990s. The format offered consumers a single destination for food, household necessities, clothing, appliances, and other general merchandise, helping accelerate the spread of modern mass retail in South Korea. The company expanded its physical network while also developing systems for online commerce and distribution. It opened an internet shopping mall in October 2004. In May 2006, Emart acquired Walmart Korea and converted 16 Walmart stores into Emart branches. The transaction strengthened Emart's national footprint and gave it additional sites in markets where large-format retail was already established. Some locations were later closed, sold, or redeveloped as the company responded to overlapping trade areas, weak performance, and changes in local competition. Emart's domestic growth was accompanied by international experimentation. It entered China in February 1997 with a Shanghai store and eventually built a multi-store Chinese operation. The company also opened a store in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in December 2015, and entered Mongolia in July 2016 through a partnership with Altai Holding. China proved difficult to operate profitably, and Emart exited that market in 2017. The Vietnamese business later adopted a different ownership structure: THISO acquired all of Emart Vietnam and received the exclusive franchise license for Emart-branded supermarkets. This created a locally operated expansion platform while retaining the brand in the market. The company has diversified beyond the standard hypermarket format. Emart Traders uses a warehouse-style model, while No Brand emphasizes simplified, value-priced private-label products. PEACOCK focuses on prepared food and related grocery offerings. The separate Emart24 convenience-store brand has expanded through direct operation and licensing in markets including Malaysia and Singapore. These formats allow the broader group to address different shopping missions, from weekly grocery trips to convenience purchases and warehouse-scale buying. Emart has also pursued acquisitions outside its original Korean hypermarket business. In 2018 it acquired Good Food Holdings, whose portfolio included Bristol Farms in the United States. Good Food Holdings later acquired New Seasons Market in a transaction completed in early 2020. In January 2022, Emart acquired a controlling 80.01 percent interest in eBay Korea, later associated with the Gmarket Global name, strengthening Shinsegae's position in Korean e-commerce. The brand's development has not been free of operational and regulatory issues. Authorities reported excessive chlorfenapyr in a private-label green-tea powder product in 2007, and a 2008 inspection found inconsistent country-of-origin labeling on meat at the Namyangju branch. Emart also discontinued a lowest-price compensation promotion in 2007 after describing the associated advertising as vulnerable to misleading hype. These episodes illustrate the compliance and pricing pressures faced by a large retailer operating across a wide product range. Today, Emart remains the principal large-format retail brand of Emart Inc. and one of South Korea's most recognizable hypermarket chains. Its business is shaped by the transition from store-centered shopping to omnichannel retail, the growth of online grocery and marketplace platforms, and the need to make physical stores more productive through private labels, prepared food, services, and differentiated formats. Overseas operations are increasingly organized through partnerships, subsidiaries, and licensing rather than a single uniform international-store model.
- 2022
eBay Korea majority stake acquired
[1]Emart acquired an 80.01 percent controlling interest in eBay Korea.
- 2018
Good Food Holdings acquired
[1]Emart expanded into United States grocery retail through the acquisition of Good Food Holdings.
- 2017
Withdrawal from China
[1]Emart ended its direct Chinese store operations.
- 2016
Mongolian market entry
[1]Emart opened its first Ulaanbaatar store in partnership with Altai Holding.
- 2015
Vietnamese market entry
[1]Emart opened its first Ho Chi Minh City store.
- 2011
Kim's Club Mart acquisition
[1]Emart acquired Kim's Club Mart.
- 2006
Walmart Korea acquisition
[1]Emart acquired Walmart Korea and converted 16 stores into Emart branches.
- 2004
Online shopping mall launched
[1]The company established an internet shopping channel.
- 1997
International entry into China
[1]Emart opened its first Chinese store in Shanghai.
- 1993
First Emart store opens in Seoul
[1]Shinsegae opened Emart's first branch in Chang-dong, Seoul, on November 12, establishing South Korea's first discount-retail chain of this type.
Products and positioning
Mass-market, value-focused omnichannel retail offering broad grocery and general-merchandise selection.
Hypermarket retail · 1993
Emart hypermarkets
The core Emart format combines a supermarket with general merchandise. Stores typically offer fresh produce, meat, seafood, packaged groceries, beverages, household products, clothing, electronics, appliances, and seasonal goods. The format is designed for broad weekly shopping and competes through scale, assortment, promotions, private labels, and convenient one-stop purchasing.
Warehouse retail
Emart Traders
Emart Traders is a warehouse-style retail format modeled around large pack sizes, bulk purchasing, and a streamlined assortment. Unlike a conventional membership warehouse club, it has been positioned as a membership-free alternative. The format extends Emart's value proposition toward households and small businesses seeking larger quantities and lower unit prices.
Private label
No Brand
No Brand is Emart's value-focused private-label line. It uses simplified packaging and a broad assortment spanning food, snacks, household products, personal-care items, and selected lifestyle goods. The brand is intended to communicate functional quality and accessible pricing while reducing reliance on national brands.
Food and prepared meals
PEACOCK
PEACOCK is associated with prepared foods, ready-to-eat meals, meal components, and other food products sold through Emart's retail network. It supports the chain's effort to capture convenience-oriented food demand and differentiate stores beyond basic grocery assortment.
Convenience retail
Emart24
Emart24 is the group's convenience-store brand. It operates through a combination of domestic stores and overseas expansion arrangements, offering convenience groceries, snacks, beverages, prepared foods, and selected lifestyle products. The brand has expanded into Malaysia and Singapore and has pursued additional international licensing.
Controversies
2008
Inconsistent meat-origin labeling
An inspection at Emart's Namyangju branch found a package that displayed the United States as the country of origin on its main label while also carrying Australia-related origin marking near the barcode. The branch was restricted by the relevant agricultural-quality authority.
2007
Excess pesticide in private-label green tea
South Korean food authorities reported chlorfenapyr above the permitted standard in Emart's first water-powder green-tea product sold under its own brand.
Marketing campaigns
- Lowest-price compensation program
South Korea
Emart operated a price-comparison promotion that provided a 5,000-won gift certificate when a comparable item was found to be more expensive than at another discount retailer. The company ended the program in 2007, citing concerns that related advertising could create misleading promotional hype.
Outcome. Program discontinued in 2007.
Brand decisions
2022
Acquisition of eBay Korea majority stakeM&ABackground
Emart pursued greater participation in Korean online retail and marketplaces.
Action taken
Emart acquired 80.01 percent of eBay Korea; the business was subsequently renamed Gmarket Global, while eBay retained 19.99 percent.
Aftermath
The transaction expanded Shinsegae Group's digital-commerce presence alongside its store-based retail operations.
2018
Expansion into United States grocery retailM&ABackground
Emart sought to diversify geographically and broaden its grocery-retail portfolio.
Action taken
The company acquired Good Food Holdings, the parent of Bristol Farms.
Aftermath
The acquisition created a platform for further United States grocery expansion, including Good Food Holdings' later acquisition of New Seasons Market.
Reported acquisition price. $275 million (2018)
2017
Exit from ChinaStrategyBackground
After opening stores in China from 1997 onward, Emart faced difficulties sustaining its direct Chinese retail operation.
Action taken
Emart withdrew from China and ended its direct store network there.
Aftermath
The company concentrated its international retail activity on markets and structures including Vietnam, Mongolia, overseas subsidiaries, and licensing partnerships.
2007
End of lowest-price compensation promotionStrategyBackground
Emart's price-guarantee promotion was intended to reinforce its discount positioning, but the company concluded that the promotional claims could encourage misleading advertising expectations.
Action taken
The company discontinued the program.
Aftermath
Emart continued to compete through everyday pricing, promotions, private labels, and store scale rather than the specific compensation mechanism.
Recent events
E-Mart opened its seventh store in Mongolia[3]
Reported:
E-Mart opened its seventh store in Mongolia at UG Arena in Ulaanbaatar. The 3,272-square-meter outlet is the retailer’s third mid-sized store in the country.
Kakao Bank launches installment savings account with E-mart[4]
Reported:
Kakao Bank launched an installment savings account in collaboration with E-mart, offering account holders benefits when shopping at E-mart stores.
E-mart appoints Kang Heui-seok as CEO[5]
Reported:
Shinsegae Group appointed Kang Heui-seok as the new chief of discount chain E-mart, according to a report published on October 21, 2019.
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