Struggling with sluggish sales, Homeplus faces projections that it will ultimately have to pursue a piecemeal sale if it fails to find a buyer to take over the hypermarket chain as a whole.

According to the retail industry on October 11, Homeplus achieved only about 30% of its sales target in the early part of this month.

In mid-September, Homeplus achieved only 40% of its initial sales target, and sales have dropped further since then.

During the holidays from October 3 to 5, daily sales reportedly hovered around the 3 billion won range.

This marks a clear downward trend compared to August 13, the first day of its reopening, when daily sales hit 10.628 billion won.

While an initial wave of "supportive grocery shopping" enthusiasm blew through Homeplus in the early days of its reopening, the momentum has recently slowed down.

Furthermore, large stores previously housed within Homeplus, such as Olive Young and Daiso, have been gradually withdrawing, which is seen as reducing customer-attracting power.

Amid slumping sales, the company has started accepting "voluntary resignation without consolation money" on the condition that delayed employee wages, Chuseok bonuses, and severance pay are paid normally.

Homeplus is pushing for a merger and acquisition (M&A) to transfer its headquarters and supermarket business sector—including 67 self-owned hypermarket stores—through a business transfer method.

Currently undergoing corporate rehabilitation procedures, Homeplus is virtually incapable of independent survival without external capital injection through an M&A, and has sent investment teasers to potential acquisition candidates through its lead M&A manager, Samil PwC.

The company plans to find a letter of intent submitter by the end of October, but has yet to secure one.

Given the circumstances, projections are emerging that if no potential buyer ultimately steps forward, the company will follow procedures for a piecemeal sale.

Currently, Homeplus is pursuing a "package sale" of its headquarters, including hypermarkets. However, if the sale proves difficult, it may break up stores with business viability to hand over to other retailers, or separately dispose of assets with high real estate value for development and leasing.

While this could increase the likelihood of a sale by opening doors to companies unable to afford the entire business, starting to sell individual stores would likely heighten employment instability, including mass layoffs.

The number of Homeplus employees reached 9,121 as of September, based on National Pension Service subscribers.

A Homeplus official stated, "Both the company and the union are aware that they can only survive by successfully concluding the M&A," adding, "If no potential buyer appears, a piecemeal sale could become an alternative."

The Homeplus branch of the Mart Workers' Union issued a statement saying, "We will keep our promise of cooperation for a successful M&A," and urged, "The government must step forward directly to find a buyer."