Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light, though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lightning they, do not go gentle into that good night.
CU convenience store chain opens 600th store in Mongolia
BGF Retail merchandising and overseas business head Jin Young-ho, right, shakes hands with Gankhuyag Adilbish, chairman of Premium Nexus Group, at the 600th CU store in Bulgan Aimag, Mongolia, June 26. Courtesy of BGF Retail
By Jhoo Dong-chan
BGF Retail, operator of the CU convenience store chain, said it opened its 600th store in Mongolia, becoming the first Korean retailer to reach that milestone in a single overseas market, about eight years after opening its first store in the country in 2018.
The store in the Bulgan Aimag region — about 600 kilometers west of the capital Ulaanbaatar — opened with a ceremony on June 26, which was attended by BGF Retail merchandising and overseas business head Jin Young-ho and Adilbish, chairman of Premium Nexus Group, CU's master franchise partner in Mongolia.
The roughly 281-square-meter store sits along a highway route to Lake Khuvsgul, a popular tourist destination, and serves tourists and long-haul truckers. It includes shower facilities, solar power equipment and an electric vehicle charging station — Mongolia's first to be located at a convenience store — along with a section for locally-sourced food.
Mongolian Prime Minister Uchral Nyam-Osor said the store's "Green Station" environmental model, developed through Premium Nexus Group's sustainability efforts, would serve as a standard for retail stores nationwide, according to BGF Retail.
CU's Mongolia grew from 21 stores in 2018 to 603 as of June 2026, expanding into 16 regions beyond Ulaanbaatar.
The company said it has built a food production center and expanded logistics centers to support the network, introducing Korean products such as instant smoothies alongside Mongolian items like buuz dumplings and khuushuur pastries. It also has about 50 stores specializing in Korean beauty products.
CU has more than 800 overseas stores as of April, with additional locations in Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Hawaii.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.