Shoppers enter a Homeplus store in Gangseo, Seoul, on Thursday as the retailer reopened 67 locations after a period of temporary closure. [Herald DB]
Shoppers enter a Homeplus store in Gangseo, Seoul, on Thursday as the retailer reopened 67 locations after a period of temporary closure. [Herald DB]

Homeplus said Tuesday that its "Homeplus is Back" promotional event generated total sales of 43.7 billion won ($30.9 million) over the five days from Aug. 13 to 17.

That marks a roughly 191 percent increase from the 15 billion won recorded during the five days from July 2 to 6, just before the retailer suspended operations. In absolute terms, sales rose by about 28.7 billion won — nearly 2.9 times the pre-suspension level.

Daily average sales also surged. In the five days before the suspension, from July 2 to 6, the daily average stood at about 3 billion won, compared with about 8.7 billion won in the five days following the reopening. Daily customer traffic climbed nearly 74 percent, from 138,200 before the suspension to 239,600 after reopening.

Homeplus noted that sales growth held steady across all five days since reopening. The company acknowledged it is too early to judge the success of its recovery based on short-term figures alone, but called the nearly 2.9-fold expansion in sales an encouraging sign. The retailer's full normalization is closely tied to job security for its employees, the business foundations of its suppliers and the health of local retail ecosystems. Attention and support from the government, political circles and other sectors have continued.

"This result was made possible by the dedication of our staff, who gave their best at their posts throughout the reopening and the holiday period," a Homeplus official said. "We will use this as momentum toward full operational recovery and work to strengthen our product competitiveness, price competitiveness and customer service."

[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

andy@heraldcorp.com