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[wylies99]

'Watermelon War' Is On

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/05/123_44892.html
By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

While summer is officially still a good two weeks away, big retailers are already pitted against each other over sales of the popular seasonal fruit, watermelon. On the surface, early promotions are related to the premature heat spell but, underneath, it's a sales tactic by retailers to get ahead and draw customers in for other summer products.

E-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, launched a two-week sales promotion for the fruit in all of its stores across the country, Wednesday. Lotte Mart and Home Plus are also kicking off their watermelon promotions.

A total of 500,000 watermelons will be on sale at E-Mart, up 50 percent from last year, with prices 30 percent cheaper than the going prices. Home Plus, which secured around 400,000 watermelons for the event, said it prepared for an early launch of the event due to the early summer weather.

Sales of the fruit have been on the rise in May in recent years with the summer heat starting sooner and sooner virtually every year. Seoul's daytime temperature neared 30 degrees Celsius last week, almost as high as in July. In E-Mart's sales promotion last week, a total of 150,000 watermelons were sold, an increase of 35-percent year-on-year.

``It is as if summer has already arrived, with hot weather and those watermelon promotions,'' said Choi Hak-mook, a fruit buyer at E-Mart.

Retailers also expect watermelon promotions will help draw back customers, who are turning their back on fruit due to high prices.

With the weak won making imported products more expensive than in past years, a long drought in the spring also led to an overall markup of most homegrown fruit.

Fruit prices last month rose 14.3 percent from last year, well ahead of a 3.6-percent year-on-year growth in overall consumer prices, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

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[Kikomom]

Ever seen a square watermelon there?

[Rory_Calhoun27]

Why is a Styx song coming to mind?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntzCi1lu2ys


Anyway, is there any chance of Gallagher traveling here to take advantage of the Melon Wars? 'Cuz if anyone would be both impressed and revolted by the G-Man, it's Korea!

[Ilsanman]

30% cheaper than usual? Then maybe 10% less than last year.

13,000 for a watermelon? No thanks, overpriced Korea. I'll pass.

[Rory_Calhoun27]

They could at least score some seedless watermelon seeds...... wonder if there's any market to smuggle some of those into the country...



What can I say? the devil made me do it!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

There'll be enough arriving in the staff room (accompanied by plenty of slurping, spitting, 'masitdas!' and insistance that I join everyone at the trough) that I think I'll get my fill while saving my W13,000.