E-Mart to open premium grocery store in LA next year

Published : Sept 28, 2018 - 09:50 Updated : Sept 28, 2018 - 09:50

E-Mart Inc., South Korea's largest discount hypermarket chain by sales, said Friday it will launch the first outlet of its premium grocery store in Los Angeles next year, the latest in a series of moves to expand its presence abroad.

E-Mart has signed a 10-year contract to lease three floors of a six-story building in downtown LA with a plan to open the 3,104-square-meter grocery shop named PK Market in the second half of next year, it said.

This image provided by E-Mart Inc. shows an artist`s rendition of the PK Market planned to open in Los Angeles in the second half of 2019. (Yonhap)

"As we have wrapped up the lease contract, we can now begin a full-fledged preparation for our US business," E-Mart said in a statement.

Chung Yong-jin, vice chairman of Shinsegae Group that operates E-Mart, said in March the business group will launch the food store brand in the US, targeting locals with Asian food products.

The company introduced PK Market, a store that sells international ingredients, vegetables, seafood and meat, at its shopping complex Starfield Hanam, just southeast of Seoul, in 2016. (Yonhap)