Korea's largest department store operator Lotte Shopping Company is planning to open 300 hypermarkets in China within the next 10 years, Just-Food reports.
The firm, which recently entered China through the CNY1.3bn (US$188m) acquisition of Beijing-based cash and carry CTA Marko, plans to open its first Lotte Mart hypermarket in the Chinese capital tomorrow (Wednesday).
As well as new store openings, Lotte plans to rebrand seven Makro outlets, located in Beijing and neighbouring Tianjin.
The company also indicated that it is on the look-out for further acquisitions to fuel growth and compete with the likes of Wal-Mart and Carrefour for a share of the lucrative Chinese market.
Lotte Mart China general manager Park Jong-doo told a news conference last week that this latest move was part of Lotte's VRICs (Vietnam, Russia, India and China) strategy. 'China will account for 80 percent to 90 per cent of the revenue of the VRICs global strategy,' he said.
The Lotte group has 17 companies in China, four in Vietnam and three in India, according to China Daily.
