Dive Brief:
- South Korean convenience retailer CU opened its first location in the U.S. last week, the company said in an announcement.
- The 2,900-square-foot store is located in downtown Honolulu. It’s open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and its offerings include many of CU’s Korean drinks and snacks, as well as cooking stations where customers can make instant ramen noodles on site.
- This comes about six months after CU revealed plans to enter the U.S. with multiple locations in Hawai‘i. It’s not clear how many others are in the pipeline or when more are expected to open.
Dive Insight:
CU has a significant presence in the Asian c-store market, particularly in South Korea, where it operates over 18,500 locations. The company began expanding outside South Korea in 2018 to regions such as Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Mongolia, and today has over 700 sites outside of its home country.
CU parent company BGF Retail said back in June that the U.S. became the company’s next target market because it aimed to tap into the rising popularity of Korean culture in the states. The company has an opportunity to expand its brand and customer base in Hawai’i, which lacks a dominant c-store player. Notable operators include 7-Eleven Hawai’i, ABC Stores and Sunoco-owned Aloha Petroleum, which all have about 60 to 70 stores in the state.
“Hawai‘i is the perfect place for Asian-style convenience stores that offer unique snacks and fresh convenient options,” said Robert Kurisu, CU Hawaii CEO, in the announcement. “In bringing CU to Hawai‘i, we wanted to share Korean culture with the local audience, and also ensure we offered products and foods that would appeal to a local audience with these partnerships.”
Besides Korean snacks, drinks and ramen, Hawai’i’s first CU features the company’s new Ho‘ina line of grab-and-go dishes, such as garlic noodles, smoked ahi onigiri, kalbi and kimchi bento. CU Hawaii also launched its own loyalty app where customers can earn points and rewards. New users will receive 150 points upon download and activation.
