South Korea-based CU opens 200th outlet in Mongolia

The convenience store chain made forays in the market four years ago.

South Korean convenience store chain CU has opened its 200th outlet in Mongolia as part of the company's push to expand its presence in the country, Yonhap reported.

The launch came four years after CU made forays into the Mongolian market through a franchise deal with local retailer Central Express.

CU has been adding an average 5.6 stores per month there since the convenience store chain opened its first outlet in Ulaanbaatar in August 2018.

CU also said it has recently acquired Mongolian outlets of US convenience store chain Circle K, raising its Mongolian market share to over 70% by store numbers. Circle K entered the Mongolian market two months before CU, but it decided to pull out of the country in March.

The company will introduce a BGF global IT system in September and seek to open its 300th store by the first half of next year, it said. BGF Retail is the operator of CU.