South Korean convenience store chain Emart24 closes all 3 outlets in Singapore

SINGAPORE - South Korean convenience store chain Emart24, which opened its first outlet here to much fanfare in 2022, has closed all three outlets here.

Word of the chain’s closure first broke in a March 18 Facebook post by Singapore Atrium Sale, which announced that the Emart24 outlet at NEX shopping mall had closed.

A photo included in the post shows a mall unit, which appears to be where the convenience store once stood, locked and boarded up.

A netizen commented that she was shocked about the closure as it had seemed to her that the store had been doing well.

Another said she had walked past the outlet, which was opened for business, just a few days earlier on March 15.

Other netizens quickly pointed out that Emart24’s outlets at Margaret Market and Jurong Point shopping mall were also closed.

Checks by The Straits Times found that both these outlets were marked as “permanently closed” on Google.

ST has contacted Emart24 for comment.

The first two outlets of Emart24 opened at Jurong Point and NEX in December 2022.

Its opening day at Jurong Point was greeted with swarms of shoppers flocking to the store for street food highlights such as tteokbokki, corn dog and Korean fried chicken.

The chain is under South Korea’s retail giant Shinsegae, and has more than 6,500 outlets in its home country.

Outside of South Korea, Emart24 opened in Malaysia in 2020 and currently has 52 outlets there.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.