Emart facts for kids
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as | KRX: 139480 |
| Industry | Retailing |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters |
,
South Korea
|
|
Number of locations
|
178 in South Korea, 72 in Malaysia, 4 in Mongolia, 1 in Vietnam |
|
Area served
|
South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Mongolia, India |
|
Key people
|
Kang Heui-seok (CEO) |
| Products | Groceries, consumer goods |
| Owner | Lee Myung-Hee |
| Parent | Shinsegae |
Emart Inc. (Hangul: 주식회사 이마트) is the biggest store chain in South Korea. It was started on November 12, 1993, by a company called Shinsegae. Emart was the very first discount store in South Korea. By December 2016, there were 160 Emart stores all over the country.
Emart is the oldest and largest discount store chain in South Korea. In 2009, its total sales were more than US$9.4 billion. Emart was also the first South Korean store to open in China. It had 27 stores there before leaving the country in 2017. Emart also has another store brand called Emart-traders, which is similar to Costco.
Contents
History of Emart
Emart opened its first store in Chang-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul, on November 12, 1993. A second store opened in Ilsan New Town on September 8, 1994. Emart was a new kind of large store for South Korea at that time.
Over the years, Emart opened many more stores across South Korea. For example, it opened stores in Jeju City and Bundang in 1996. In October 2004, Emart started an online shopping website.
Emart and Walmart
In May 2006, Emart took over Walmart Korea. This meant that 16 Walmart stores in South Korea became Emart stores. By 2008, Walmart Korea was fully joined with Emart.
Special Offers and Challenges
For a while, Emart had a "lowest price promise." If an item was more expensive at Emart than at another discount store, customers would get a gift certificate. However, Emart stopped this offer in 2007.
In 2007, a government agency found a small amount of a pesticide in one of Emart's green tea products. In 2008, one Emart store had a problem with how it labeled where some meat came from.
Growth and New Businesses
By September 2009, Emart had 127 stores and 4 large storage centers in South Korea. Emart continued to grow by buying other companies. In May 2011, it bought Kim's Club Mart.
In 2018, Emart bought an American company called Good Food Holdings, Inc. This company owns grocery stores like Bristol Farms. In early 2020, Good Food Holdings also bought another grocery chain called New Seasons Market.
Some Emart stores have closed over time, for example, the Gyeongsan and Bupyeong branches in 2018. In January 2022, Emart bought most of eBay Korea, which it renamed "Gmarket Global." eBay still owns a small part of the company.
Emart Around the World
Emart was the first Korean store to open in China. It opened its first Chinese store in Shanghai on February 1, 1997. By September 2009, Emart had 22 stores in China. These stores also sold Korean products.
.jpg)
Emart opened its first store in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on December 28, 2015. In late 2021, a Vietnamese company called THISO Retail took over Emart's stores in Vietnam. THISO Retail now runs the Emart supermarkets there. They opened a second Emart store in November 2022 and a third in 2023.
In 2021, Emart's convenience stores, called Emart24, started opening in Malaysia. They opened their first store there in 2021. In December 2022, Emart24 also launched in Singapore. The company plans to open many more stores in Singapore in the next few years.
In June 2025, Emart24 signed a deal to open stores in India. The first store is expected to open in Pune in August 2025, with a second one in October. Emart24 hopes to bring new shopping experiences to India, offering Korean foods like tteokbokki and gimbap, cosmetics, and even Korean-style photo booths. This expansion is helped by the popularity of Korean culture, known as the Korean Wave.
Who Owns Emart
Emart is owned by different shareholders. As of February 2025, Chung Yong-jin is the largest shareholder, owning 28.56% of the company. He increased his ownership by buying shares from his mother, Lee Myung-hee, who is the Honorary Chairwoman of Shinsegae Group. Other important shareholders include the National Pension Service and companies like Naver Corporation and The Vanguard Group.
See also
In Spanish: E-mart para niños
