Convenience store chain CU has surpassed 800 overseas stores, marking a milestone that comes eight years after its 2018 international debut and represents a nearly 40-fold increase in its overseas footprint. With the domestic convenience store market reaching saturation, CU and other major Korean operators are expected to further accelerate their overseas expansion. Riding the rising global popularity of K-pop and K-food, the chains are pursuing a "K-culture platform" strategy to drive their global expansion.
According to BGF Retail, the operator of CU, the chain's overseas store count grew from 762 at the end of last year to 803 as of the end of April. CU is the first Korean convenience store brand to exceed 800 overseas stores. "This is the highest achievement since Korean convenience store brands entered overseas markets," a CU official said. "It demonstrates that the Korean convenience store model is being recognized for its competitiveness in global markets."
From Ulaanbaatar to Hawaii: K-Food Drives Accelerated Expansion
CU launched its overseas business in 2018 by opening 21 stores in Mongolia, before expanding into Malaysia (2021), Kazakhstan (2024), and Hawaii in the United States (2025). This year alone, the chain has opened 41 new stores: 24 in Mongolia, 7 in Malaysia, 9 in Kazakhstan, and 1 in Hawaii. At the current pace, CU will add more than 120 overseas stores this year, marking the second consecutive year of opening more than 100 stores abroad.
By country, Mongolia leads with 565 stores, followed by Malaysia (177), Kazakhstan (59), and Hawaii (2). Mongolia, CU's first overseas market, has become firmly established locally, with average daily customer traffic reaching about 1,000 per store — three times the level in Korea. In 2021, CU opened a store at Mongolia's New Chinggis Khaan International Airport, becoming the first Korean convenience store to enter an overseas international airport. "Based on the Korean convenience store model, we provided differentiated products and services that local consumers had not seen before, leading new consumption trends in Mongolia," a CU official said.
Malaysia, CU's second overseas market, has expanded from 46 stores in 2021 to 177 stores currently — nearly a fourfold increase in five years. When CU opened its first store in Malaysia, a 100-meter line formed in front of the shop, demonstrating local interest in K-convenience stores. After Kazakhstan, CU last year opened its first store in Hawaii, becoming the first Korean convenience store brand to expand beyond Asia. The Hawaii flagship drew 1,000 customers on its first day and 2,000 on its second, generating sales five times higher than the initial performance in previous overseas markets.
CU plans to expand to more than five overseas countries from the current four by 2028, with overseas stores growing to as many as 1,200. Achieving this target requires maintaining at least last year's opening pace of 153 stores through 2028. "By applying more than 30 years of domestic operating know-how to overseas markets, the convenience store industry is building a new export industry model," a CU official said. "We will expand into more countries and grow into a global convenience store standard."
Domestic Market 'Saturated': GS25 Tops 700 Stores, Emart24 Expands Country Lineup
The convenience store industry is accelerating overseas expansion because the domestic market has reached maturity. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the combined number of stores operated by Korea's four major convenience store chains stood at 53,266 last year — the first decline since the industry's emergence in 1988.
GS25 surpassed 700 overseas stores in February with the opening of "GS25 Tham Tin" in Hanoi, Vietnam. As of the end of last month, GS25's overseas store count grew to 724, including 429 in Vietnam and 295 in Mongolia. Since first entering Vietnam in 2018, GS25 has surpassed earlier entrants such as FamilyMart and grown into the country's second-largest convenience store operator by store count, after Circle K of the United States.
Emart24 is also actively pursuing overseas markets. After opening its first overseas store in Cambodia in June 2021, the chain now operates 129 overseas stores across Cambodia, Malaysia, and India. Last month alone, Emart24 opened four consecutive stores in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The chain plans to expand its Cambodian store count from the current 22 to 70 by year-end. It also plans to open a new store in Pune, Maharashtra state, India this month, and has signed a contract with a local company to enter Laos.
The chains have set aggressive overseas targets. GS25 aims to reach 1,000 overseas stores by next year. "Until now, we have focused expansion on southern Vietnam, and we began expanding to the north last year," a GS25 official said. "We will continue to consider entering new countries."
K-Food Hits Like Sotteok-Sotteok and Triangular Gimbap Drive Overseas Sales
Surging demand for K-culture in key target regions is favorable for the convenience store industry's expansion goals. At GS25's Vietnam stores, Korean foods such as tteokbokki, bulgogi cheese rice balls, Korean-style chicken rice bowls, bibimbap, and kimchi cheese rice balls account for the majority of top-selling products. "Vietnam is a market with high demand for instant food due to its developed street food culture," a GS25 official said. "GS25 has cultivated not only local foods such as banh bao, the Vietnamese version of steamed buns, but also Korean prepared foods such as tteokbokki, gimbap, and lunch boxes as hit products alongside the spread of the Korean Wave."
The same pattern holds for CU. Korean products account for 60% of total sales at CU's Malaysia stores and 65% at its Kazakhstan stores. In Malaysia, tteokbokki is the top-selling product overall, with 4,000 cups sold per day. In Mongolia, CU's private brand GET Coffee ranks first, with average daily sales of about 200 cups per store — more than 10 times the level in Korea. At CU's Hawaii downtown store, seven of the top 10 best-selling products are K-food items, including sotteok-sotteok, bulgogi gimbap, chicken skewers, Yonsei Milk fresh cream bread, and grilled salmon triangular gimbap.
Accordingly, the industry is positioning the Korean convenience store experience as its core strategy for overseas expansion, including K-beauty specialty sections and expanded K-food dining areas. CU has introduced a "ramen library" model at its Hawaii store, allowing customers to sample Hangang ramen. "Young overseas consumers have a high affinity for Korean culture, so we are putting Korean products such as CU's private brand items at the forefront," a CU official said. "By installing instant photo kiosks — a leisure activity popular among Korea's MZ generation — we will expand beyond simple convenience stores into a K-lifestyle platform."
