[Anchor]
Having secured emergency operating funds, Homeplus reopened 67 stores on a temporary basis starting today (Aug. 7). After reinforcing inventory and inspecting facilities, the company plans to officially reopen on the 13th.
Reporter Park Jaehyeon has the details.
[Reporter]
Homeplus, which secured 200 billion won in emergency operating funds, soft-opened 67 stores today.
This comes 25 days after the stores closed their doors due to a depletion of operating funds.
Homeplus plans to secure additional goods and stabilize its logistics supply chain from today through the 12th, ahead of its official grand opening on the 13th.
The delivery of goods, which had been halted due to delayed payments, has also resumed.
The supply of major manufacturer brand products, including from CJ CheilJedang and Daesang, has begun, and Homeplus's private-label products stored in logistics centers are also being moved to stores.
However, deliveries from Nonghyup, which has supplied more than half of Homeplus's fresh produce, have reportedly not yet been finalized.
Employees are expected to handle all tasks—regardless of their departments—including product stocking, cashier operations, and store management for the time being.
While the injection of emergency operating funds has put out the immediate fire, the real test starts now.
With less than a month left until the September 4 deadline for passing Homeplus's rehabilitation plan, the sales performance during this period is expected to serve as a watershed moment for the rehabilitation court's approval and potential sale to another company.
[Ahn Su-yong / Head of the Homeplus Union at the Korean Service Industry Workers' Union: Just because the lights are back on in the stores doesn't mean Homeplus has survived. Customers need to return, sales must recover, and partner companies and store tenants need to be able to smile together....]
Along with this resumption of business, Homeplus unveiled a plan to differentiate its business model by streamlining its product offerings around private labels and daily necessities.
(Video by Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Kim Yun-sung)
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