[Edaily KYUNG GYEYOUNG Reporter Han Jeon-jin] With Homeplus effectively declared bankrupt, changes to the landscape of the hypermarket industry—which had been dominated by the “Big Three” of E-MART Co., Ltd., Lotte Mart, and Homeplus—have become inevitable. However, given the overall slump in the hypermarket sector and the fact that e-commerce giants such as Coupang and Kurly are expanding into the fresh food segment—a traditional strength of hypermarkets—competition between hypermarkets and e-commerce platforms is expected to intensify as they vie for Homeplus’s market share.

The 4th Reorganization Division of the Seoul Reorganization Court (Presiding Judge Jeong Jun-young) decided on the 3rd to terminate the reorganization proceedings for Homeplus. This comes one year and four months after Homeplus filed for corporate reorganization in March of last year.

The court ruled that Homeplus would find it difficult to properly implement its reorganization plan because it had failed to secure the 2000억 won in emergency operating funds (DIP) necessary for reorganization. If Homeplus cannot secure the 2000억 won, it will have no choice but to proceed with liquidation.

The landscape of the large-scale supermarket industry is also set to change. Homeplus was once the second-largest player in the industry, operating approximately 140 stores nationwide. When MBK Partners acquired the company in 2015, the deal was valued at 7.2 trillion won, marking the largest merger and acquisition (M&A) in South Korean corporate history.

If Homeplus is liquidated as is, only E- E-MART Co., Ltd.(139480), and Lotte Mart will remain in the hypermarket industry. Customers who previously shopped at Homeplus are likely to switch to E-MART Co., Ltd., or Lotte Mart.

In fact, since Homeplus began its restructuring process and reduced its store count from 126 to 67, sales at E-MART Co., Ltd. and Lotte Mart stores located near the closed Homeplus locations have increased.

From May 10, when Homeplus suspended operations at 37 stores, through May 31, sales at E-MART Co., Ltd.’s Changdong and Mukdong branches—located near Homeplus’s Junggye, Sinnae, and Myeonmok branches—rose by 11.4% compared to the same period last year. Looking at May as a whole, sales at these stores rose 6.5% compared to the same month last year, exceeding E-MART Co., Ltd.’s overall sales growth rate of 5.2%. Similarly, from May 10 to June 29, sales at two Lotte Mart stores in Songpa-gu, Seoul, increased by an average of 6.3% year-over-year, while sales at a store in Ilsan-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, rose by 13.8%.

However, some analysts suggest that E-MART Co., Ltd. and Lotte Mart will not be able to fully capitalize on the windfall resulting from Homeplus’s liquidation. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s May sales trends for major retailers, while large-scale supermarkets saw a 5.1% year-over-year decline in sales, department stores (24.5%), convenience stores (5.9%), and online retailers (8.8%) all posted sales growth. It appears that large-scale supermarkets themselves have reached a structural limit to their growth.

Even in the food sector—where large supermarkets traditionally excel—offline sales in May rose by 1.5% year-over-year, while online sales surged by 10.1%. The sales growth rate for daily necessities and household goods was also higher online (7.2%) than offline (6.4%). An industry insider noted, “While customers who used to shop at brick-and-mortar stores may still visit nearby hypermarkets, with e-commerce gaining ground, a significant portion of the demand for grocery shopping is likely to shift online.”

Seo Yong-gu, a professor in the Department of Business Administration at Sookmyung Women’s University, noted, “In the three-way competition among large supermarkets, E-MART Co., Ltd. and Lotte Mart may benefit, but their share could be as low as 10–20%.” However, he added, “With more than 50% of Homeplus customers switching to online grocery shopping, e-commerce platforms such as Coupang are likely to benefit the most.”