Hanwoo Sells Out in 5 Minutes... Crowds Rush In as Store Reopens

Homeplus, which faced the brink of bankruptcy, has ended its temporary shutdown and resumed operations. Word of massive discount events drew streams of customers from early in the morning.

Reporter Choi Seung-hun has the story.



[Please move slowly. Just go slowly. Slowly.]

At 10:00 AM, as business began, customers waiting in front of the store poured in pushing shopping carts.

The half-price Hanwoo (Korean beef) display shelves were packed shoulder to shoulder, and the first batch sold out in under five minutes.

Half-price red bean bread also flew off the shelves instantly, forming a long line of people waiting for fresh bread.

[Park Cheon-woong / Yangcheon-gu, Seoul: They said they were selling delicious bread cheaply today, so I came to buy some. If I leave this spot empty, my wife might scold me...]

Today (August 13), 67 Homeplus stores officially reopened.

Homeplus, currently undergoing corporate rehabilitation procedures, temporarily halted operations last month due to a liquidity crunch, but reopened after securing 200 billion won in emergency operating funds.

Homeplus has set out to recapture customer foot traffic through deep discount events.

[Hwang Ye-won / Gangseo-gu, Seoul: It's right in front of my house so I always came here, but it was always so inconvenient not having anywhere to buy groceries...]

[Lee Jung-shin / Gangseo-gu, Seoul: My heart ached so much when I thought it was disappearing. I am so happy and full of gratitude that it reopened and became like this today.]

In-store vendors could not hide their expectations at the return of customers.

[Son Jong-wook / Homeplus In-store Vendor: Since the doors opened, a lot more customers came and bought a lot. As long as they keep the doors open, sales should continue to go well.]

The fate of Homeplus is expected to face its biggest turning point at the stakeholders' meeting scheduled for September 2.

It is the day when interested parties, such as creditors and shareholders, gather to decide whether to approve the rehabilitation plan submitted by Homeplus.

Since whether stakeholders accept it in the first place is crucial to the rehabilitation court's review, the key until then will be retaining customers, restoring suppliers' trust, and normalizing product supply.

(Video filming: Kim Hak-mo, Video editing: Jeong Yong-hwa)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.