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'Pokemon' cakes fetch higher prices in secondhand market amid short supply

SPC Samlip's Pokemon cakes / Courtesy of SPC By Kim Jae-heunSPC Samlip's “Pokemon” cakes have been going viral on and offline after the bakery firm recently reintroduced the product series after 24 years of retirement. The products have even been selling for higher prices on secondhand markets as the company struggles to keep pace with demand.While Pokemon cake products sell for 1,500 won ($1.21) at local supermarkets and convenience stores, they trade for 3,000 won to 4,000 won on Joonggonara, the country's largest online used goods marketplace. Some of the items are even sold for almost 30 times the price online ― 40,000 won ― as collectors seek special animation character stickers found in the packaging. Pokemon character sticker collecting became hugely popular when it was first introduced in 1998. K-pop star RM of Bangtan Boys also requested SPC to sell more Pokemon cakes on his social media recently.SPC Samlip is doing its best to meet the increasing demand fo

Mar 13, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
'Pokemon' cakes fetch higher prices in secondhand market amid short supply
Companies

Fed up with troublesome customers, Coupang changes refund policy

Coupang's delivery vehicles are parked in front of the company's logistic center in Seoul in March, 2021. YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunCoupang has decided to change its refund policy, which lets customers return any product they bought within 30 days of purchase without any conditions. The e-commerce giant said Sunday it expects the new measure will weed out troublesome customers and reduce snowballing losses as a result.Until now, Coupang has allowed customers who ask for refunds on purchased products even after they've been used, because the return policy helped the e-commerce firm attract a large number of paid-membership users. However, concerns have been growing over an increasing number of people abusing Coupang's refund system.In one case, a consumer was caught returning an Apple laptop after using it for 20 days last year, but Coupang took it back without asking any questions. To prevent the same incident from happening again, the online retailer posted a notice online that it will no longer take back items starting Sunday whose packaging has been damaged or price tag has been remove

Mar 13, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Fed up with troublesome customers, Coupang changes refund policy
Companies

BMW to recall 18,000 vehicles over engine fire risks

People drive BMW cars at the company's EfficientDynamics Driving Event held in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, on Sept. 5, 2009. Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunBMW Korea plans to recall 180,000 vehicles equipped with an engine ventilation device that could spark an engine fire when overheated, the company said Thursday. “There has not been a single case of a BMW car catching fire in Korea due to the defect in our engine ventilation device. Still, we are bringing cars in for examination and to prevent the defect from causing fires,” a BMW Korea official said. The official also said the exact date of the recall has not been decided yet and BMW Korea is in talks with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. “Our warranty service centers will call the BMW owners to bring in their cars for a free examination within this year,” he added.The German carmaker plans to bring in more than 1 million cars worldwide. The vehicle models subject to BMW's recall are the 1, 3 and 5 series in the sedan category and X3 and X5 in the SUV segment, manufactured betw

Mar 10, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
BMW to recall 18,000 vehicles over engine fire risks
Companies

Kurly, Coupang face complaints about declining quality of overnight deliveries

Market Kurly's delivery vehicle is parked in front of the company's logistics center in this television commercial scene. Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunKurly, Coupang, Oasis and other e-commerce companies are facing growing consumer complaints about the deteriorating quality of overnight delivery services amid soaring demand, according to industry analysts, Thursday.Kurly, an operator of the online grocery platform Market Kurly, was the first one to start overnight delivery, followed by Coupang and Oasis. After the three firms grew explosively with the service, which people found particularly indispensable during the pandemic, even more firms such as Naver Shopping, SSG.com and other local home shopping companies began to make deliveries in the morning. The size of the overnight delivery market in Korea reached 1 trillion won by 2018 and is expected to grow to 11.9 trillion won by next year. More e-commerce firms plan to offer the service. However, soaring demand for overnight delivery services has resulted in a shortage of manpower in the local logistics industry and a growing numb

Mar 10, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Kurly, Coupang face complaints about declining quality of overnight deliveries
Companies

Korean food firms strained by war in Ukraine

A child tries to grab a box of Lotte Confectionery's Choco Pie product in Russia in March. Courtesy of Lotte ConfectioneryBy Kim Jae-heunKorean food companies operating in Russia are finding themselves in a tougher situation due to the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The international community has decided to impose economic sanctions on Russia, which resulted in a decline of the ruble's value and an instant economic recession in the country. Orion, Lotte Confectionery, Paldo and Lotte Chilsung Beverage are preparing countermeasures in order to better cope with a possible crash in their profits in case the conflict is prolonged. Orion is particularly worried as it has shown significant growth with its all-time top-selling Choco Pie in Russia. Orion recorded 117 billion won ($94.69 million) in sales last year, up 31.4 percent from the previous year. The confectionery giant currently runs two production facilities in Russia and plans to open one more factory soon. Orion said the situation is not urgent yet as it has already secured enough raw materials for local production for t

Mar 9, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Korean food firms strained by war in Ukraine
Companies

Kurly, SSG.com, Oasis postpone IPOs due to Ukraine invasion

Kurly CEO Sophie Kim speaks to reporters during a press conference held at the company's headquarters in Seoul, Sept. 24, 2019. YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunEmerging e-commerce firms here have encountered obstacles in their plans to go public in the first half of this year, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and their business models accumulating losses.Kurly, which operates online grocery giant Market Kurly, received a 250 billion won ($202 million) investment from a Hong Kong private equity fund last year to prepare for an initial public offering (IPO) around this time. It even disclosed its plan to give its employees a stock option after the listing.However, Kurly did not send a request to the Korea Exchange for a preliminary examination of its IPO, which takes at least six months. Kurly is unlikely to go public before June.The problem for Kurly is that its CEO Sophie Kim holds a deficient amount of shares (6.67 percent as of December 2020) in her company to take full charge of company management. The Korea Exchange is asking her to acquire a minimum 20 percent of Kurly's shares to hold jo

Mar 9, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Kurly, SSG.com, Oasis postpone IPOs due to Ukraine invasion
Companies

Gong cha opening more stores despite COVID-19 pandemic

Gong cha store in Busan / Courtesy of Gong cha By Kim Jae-heunGlobal milk tea brand Gong cha has gone from strength to strength during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the total number of stores worldwide increasing by nearly 250, up 17 percent, in 2021 alone.Having continued to rapidly expand its business over the last few years, Gong cha saw its total number of stores jump up from 1,415 at the end of 2020 to 1,661 by the end of 2021. Gong cha Korea was at the forefront of that global expansion last year, with the operation of 777 stores as of the end of 2021. Korea remains the leading Gong cha market worldwide and is at the forefront of the brand's innovation and international growth.Gong cha Korea expects to continue its growth with the opening of an additional 87 stores this year.By country, Gong cha significantly bolstered its presence in a number of key markets last year, including Australia, Japan, the Philippines, New York, and Mexico. Gong cha Australia entered

Mar 8, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Gong cha opening more stores despite COVID-19 pandemic
Companies

POSCO international to create 'cotton cluster' in Uzbekistan

POSCO International CEO Ju Si-bo, left, poses with Governor Khayrullo Bozarov of Fergana Region, after signing a memorandum of agreement to form cotton cluster in Uzbekistan, at POSCO International's headquarters in Incheon, Tuesday. Courtesy of POSCO International By Kim Jae-heunPOSCO International, Korea's largest trading company, signed a memorandum of agreement with Governor Khayrullo Bozarov of Fergana in eastern Uzbekistan to establish a raw cotton cluster in the Central Asian country, the company said, Tuesday.The cotton cluster refers to the Uzbek government's project to invite companies to cultivate the crop and establish a stable supply chain. Uzbekistan is one of the world's top five cotton exporters with annual shipments totaling 3 million tons. POSCO International first established a spinning factory in Uzbekistan in 1996 and developed it into the largest cotton producing company there employing about 4,000 workers and generating $37 million in operatin

Mar 8, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
POSCO international to create 'cotton cluster' in Uzbekistan
Companies

Major retailers step up race to attract wealthy customers in Seoul

By Kim Jae-heunMajor Korean retailers are competing to win over an increasing number of wealthy customers in Seoul's Gangnam area, which is comprised of three districts in the affluent southern part of the capital, company officials said Monday. The move comes as Lotte, Shinsegae, Hyundai and Galleria struggle to rebound from a prolonged sales slump that was triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their strategy has been to open new foreign luxury brand shops and offer exclusive VIP membership programs for affluent consumers who have been eager to spend their disposable income on high-end merchandize after being unable to travel abroad or engage in other consumer activities due to the pandemic.Shinsegae, a big player in southern Seoul, operates the country's most lucrative department store in Seocho District. In fact, Shinsegae became the first department store in Korea to achieve 2 trillion won ($1.62 billion) in sales in 2019 and continues to maintain that performance. Sales last year reached 2.5 trillion won.Shinsegae has been focusing on the luxury goods business for a long time. It

Mar 8, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Major retailers step up race to attract wealthy customers in Seoul
Companies

Coupang, Naver strive for logistics dominance

Coupang delivery vehicles are parked at its logistics center in Seoul on March 16, 2021. Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunCoupang and Naver are in fierce competition to build Korea's largest and most efficiently run logistics network, to take the lead in the rapidly growing e-commerce market, according to company officials, Tuesday. The extent of the networks in which they operate is crucial to how fast they can deliver customers' online orders. Both online retail giants have been adopting different strategies to expand their logistics infrastructures in various ways.Coupang has built 140,000 square meters of packing warehouses last year alone and it plans to add hundreds of square feet more this year. Currently, it runs 3.7 million square meters of logistics and processing centers in the country. The online retailer also started a third party logistics service in 2021. It acquired a license from the government to run a logistics business with its subsidiary, Coupang Logistics Service (CLS). For now, CLS manages the operations of Coupang's overnight delivery service. Coupang has alread

Mar 8, 2022By Kim Jae-heun
Coupang, Naver strive for logistics dominance
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