South Korea's convenience store chains are widening their clothing lineups, with lightweight down jackets and fleece jackets priced between 30,000 won and 40,000 won ($21 to $28) now sold as regular items.
CU will release three products on Oct. 22 — a windbreaker at 27,900 won, a fleece jacket at 22,900 won and a lightweight down jacket at 39,900 won, according to industry sources on the 18th. The launch marks the final stage of a rollout of 19 cold-weather clothing and accessory items, including thermal socks, stockings and fleece-lined tights.
Emart24 plans to introduce a 34,900-won lightweight down jacket and add tights, leggings, gloves and thermal underwear, expanding its winter clothing and accessories lineup to 20 items. GS25 sells a convenience store-exclusive line developed with Musinsa Standard, called Musinsa Standard Express, at about 5,000 stores. Sales of Heatandard, a seasonal innerwear line offering cooling and heat-retention functions, jumped 127.5% between Oct. 1 and Oct. 11 from the preceding comparable period.
7-Eleven became the first convenience store chain to sell a cashmere-blend knit sweater at 32,900 won last year and has since added thermal underwear, lifting its fashion category sales 20% from a year earlier.
Chasing Shoppers Lost to Daiso: Convenience Stores Counter With Cosmetics and Clothing
Behind the expansion into clothing is competition with ultra-low-price retailers such as Daiso and Daiso Beauty. As Daiso has shaken up the health and beauty market with cosmetics priced from 500 won to 5,000 won and eaten into convenience store demand across household goods, the chains are hitting back with stronger private-brand offerings and collaboration products.
Private-brand lines such as CU's GET, 7-Eleven's 7-Select and GS25's YOURS have recently expanded beyond cosmetics and household goods into clothing. For convenience stores, clothing carries higher margins than food and has clear seasonal demand, making inventory management workable.
Placing fashion brand products in convenience stores located along daily routes is paying off by tapping both accessibility and brand recognition at once, analysts said.
Industry officials see convenience store clothing shifting from emergency purchases made during travel or business trips toward everyday consumer goods aimed at repeat buying. The expansion from T-shirts to knitwear, thermal underwear and lightweight down jackets is no longer about filling out the assortment but is becoming a structure that regularly supplies seasonal planned products, they said.