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viciousdinosaur
Joined: 30 Apr 2012
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 Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 2:32 am Post subject: |
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| xhaktmtjdnf wrote: |
| I don't think anyone owns the idea of a warehouse store so I think pronouncements that Lotte "copied" or "cloned" are a bit of a stretch. . |
That's the bit that really gets me. How can you clone a warehouse? But, they've done it, haven't they? All those little details about Costco: the printed out price details in plastic envelopes, the palates of products stack to the ceiling, the cheesy vending cart graphics of the good stand, the oversized carts, the boxy-looking building, the shrink-wrapped muffins, ...and on and on.
A stretch? I mean take away the Lotte signs and you'd think were in Costco! |
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tardisrider
Joined: 13 Mar 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 5:35 am Post subject: |
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| viciousdinosaur wrote: |
A stretch? I mean take away the Lotte signs and you'd think were in Costco! |
I understand what you're saying, but I've been to various warehouse type stores (not just Costco) and they're all pretty much identical in the way that you're describing.
| sojusucks wrote: |
| The salad is just plain awful. It�s in the same container as those at Costco but the salad ingredients don�t even fill up half of the container. |
So...it's awful, and there's not enough of it. |
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Seoulman69
Joined: 14 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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I'm interested in what beer they have. I hope they have a half decent ale at a reasonable price but I'm not holding my breath.
If anyone goes please take photos of the beer section. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 5:10 am Post subject: |
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It's a shame that Home Plus didn't do their own costco copy. Theirs would prob be the best and might even reasonably go toe to toe with Costco.
As for now, I'll keep my Costco membership. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 5:11 am Post subject: |
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| I was going to suggest Sam's Club come over here, but Wal Mart was already here? Any long term expats able to tell us what it was like in a Wal Mart Korea store? I bet they sold many foriegn products. |
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cadurling
Joined: 16 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:50 am Post subject: |
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| Same as the other big three. Now Thailand was a different story lots of familiar products at a discount price. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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So Wal Mart here was nothing special? I guess it was nothing like back in North America, then? I only asked because someone had mentioned a French store called Carrefour that sold good bread at cheap prices that got taken over and has since sold high priced much lower quality bread.
Anyways, I think 10 years back the country was too nationalistic for foriegn companies to come here and do business. It's still my opinion that times have changed and that things are different now. However, there are still those "non tariff barriers to entry" and stupid local zoning requirements.
A small country town I lived in could have had a small Lotte Mart and all the townsfolks gathered together to keep it out and the town hall never did approve it's request. Kind of stupid because many locals went to another city on weekends to do some of their shopping. They could have kept more of that money in their own town giving jobs to locals, ect. |
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ja2dared
Joined: 24 Nov 2011
Location: United States
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| Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:24 am Post subject: |
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They are opening up a new VIC Market down the street from me here in Dongtan. They're basically giving away a free membership(35,000 won membership comes with 35,000 won gift card) but I'm not so sure if I should be getting excited about it, or if it will be a let down.
Has anyone that's been to the VIC in Seoul know if they sell sandwich meats(i.e. Turkey) there. That would make me a very happy man! |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| I was going to suggest Sam's Club come over here, but Wal Mart was already here? Any long term expats able to tell us what it was like in a Wal Mart Korea store? I bet they sold many foriegn products. |
Wal-Mart didn't do anything special, product-wise, so it was just like visiting a 2012 Homeplus. It was open 24 hours. That was very convenient for those of us who wanted to shop earlier in the morning or late at night. But, Koreans were store loyal to Korean stores. You got the feeling that, after a while, Wal-mart was just going through the motions. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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| wylies99 wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| I was going to suggest Sam's Club come over here, but Wal Mart was already here? Any long term expats able to tell us what it was like in a Wal Mart Korea store? I bet they sold many foriegn products. |
Wal-Mart didn't do anything special, product-wise, so it was just like visiting a 2012 Homeplus. It was open 24 hours. That was very convenient for those of us who wanted to shop earlier in the morning or late at night. But, Koreans were store loyal to Korean stores. You got the feeling that, after a while, Wal-mart was just going through the motions. |
Interesting to know. I guess that stubborn nationalism the older generation has or had isn't surprising. Maybe Tesco went about it the right way. Sounds like Wal Mart came into Korea too soon. Maybe they should have waited until more Koreans went abroad and came back and for the younger generation to get into early adulthood.
I'd bet if they came back in the next couple of years, they'd do much better and they could sell some specialty products alongside the Korean ones. Just look at the popularity of Costco nowadays.
But, the red tape for everything (including for the discussion of "building a home here") seems to be quite stiffling.
I think I've finally figured out why the smaller independant stores rarely ever sell anything foreign. They can't afford the lawyers and accountants to deal with the government here. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| wylies99 wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| I was going to suggest Sam's Club come over here, but Wal Mart was already here? Any long term expats able to tell us what it was like in a Wal Mart Korea store? I bet they sold many foriegn products. |
Wal-Mart didn't do anything special, product-wise, so it was just like visiting a 2012 Homeplus. It was open 24 hours. That was very convenient for those of us who wanted to shop earlier in the morning or late at night. But, Koreans were store loyal to Korean stores. You got the feeling that, after a while, Wal-mart was just going through the motions. |
Interesting to know. I guess that stubborn nationalism the older generation has or had isn't surprising. Maybe Tesco went about it the right way. Sounds like Wal Mart came into Korea too soon. Maybe they should have waited until more Koreans went abroad and came back and for the younger generation to get into early adulthood.
I'd bet if they came back in the next couple of years, they'd do much better and they could sell some specialty products alongside the Korean ones. Just look at the popularity of Costco nowadays.
But, the red tape for everything (including for the discussion of "building a home here") seems to be quite stiffling.
I think I've finally figured out why the smaller independant stores rarely ever sell anything foreign. They can't afford the lawyers and accountants to deal with the government here. |
I think your observations regarding younger Koreans being more open-minded are far too optimistic. Nationalism is as strong as ever here.
It wasn't that long ago that Wal-Mart, which is thriving in China where it's looked upon as a leader in quality and trustworthiness, was in Korea. The one I went to was replaced by an E-Mart, now an E-Mart Traders, which thrived immediately. The reason most often given for Wal-Mart's demise was its lack of understanding of the Korean consumer, i.e., housewife, and the importance of groceries. But then why would Carrefour make the same mistake?
The thing that Tesco did right, besides hiding behind the Samsung name, was to use Samsung to acquire the real estate and thus get good locations.
But hey, Ikea will open in 2014 if you're still here. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:19 am Post subject: |
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| Ikea is coming here? Cool! Have you been to Wal Mart in China? I'd be curious to see what it looks like abroad. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:49 am Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| Ikea is coming here? Cool! Have you been to Wal Mart in China? I'd be curious to see what it looks like abroad. |
The Chinese Walmart I went into kind of looked like the Asian targeted big stores you see in North America. Live seafood, hanging pigs heads and every part of the animal available for sale. They really went all out and got Chinese mangers into the stores. Walmart didn't really localize in Korea and didn't have the key backing of a Korean corporation. Despite what people on this board likes to think, bringing foreign products into a market is not going to do any company any favors in any market. Localization is the key and someone local to cut through all the red tape. |
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dairyairy
Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 3:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Despite what people on this board likes to think, bringing foreign products into a market is not going to do any company any favors in any market. Localization is the key |
The Costco food court area proves this, right? |
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alongway
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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| dairyairy wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Despite what people on this board likes to think, bringing foreign products into a market is not going to do any company any favors in any market. Localization is the key |
The Costco food court area proves this, right? |
I was thinking the incredible and spectacular failure of Starbucks in Korea would be the poster child for this concept. |
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