Lotte Group, Korea's leading food and retail conglomerate, plans to open its first supermarket in China this year to expand its presence in the fast growing consumer market, industry sources said Wednesday.
Sources said the supermarket, slated to be opened around April, will be located inside one of Beijing's large shopping malls that also has a movie theater and clothing outlets.
"The location has been carefully picked so Lotte can check if its supermarket business will work in China," a business insider said.
He said the retail giant has been examining business potential for its supermarkets for some time, and if the first outlet is successful, it will expand operations in the country, which could include buying up existing super supermarket (SSM) chains.
There are several SSMs operated by Chinese, Taiwanese and other foreign companies in China.
In addition to establishing a supermarket presence, the family-owned business group is moving to set up a Chinese headquarters that can oversee all of its retail and petrochemical operations in the country.
Lotte already has Lottemart discount outlets in China, along with operations carried out by affiliate Honam Petrochemical Corp.(Yonhap)