GS25 opens first ichiban kuji-themed store in Busan, targeting young shoppers and tourists

GS25 announced Friday that it has opened the convenience store industry's first ichiban kuji-themed store.

Ichiban kuji is a Japanese-style lottery system with no losing draws. Customers pay at a kiosk, select a coupon of their choice and receive a randomly assigned prize.

GS25 partnered with Daewon Media to introduce ichiban kuji kiosks in June last year, becoming the first in the industry to do so. The company has now expanded its related content with the launch of a dedicated themed store.

The store is located at GS25's Seomyeon Star outlet on Busan's Seomyeon Jeoumui Geori, a street popular with young people. GS25 selected the site based on customer demographic data, foot traffic patterns and available floor space, noting that the area draws a high proportion of customers in their teens through 30s as well as a large number of foreign tourists.

The store operates across two floors. The ground floor functions as a standard convenience store, while the second floor is dedicated to ichiban kuji and a space where visitors can experience animation and character intellectual property.

The exterior also sets the store apart. GS25 applied a standard GS25 sign on the ground floor and large-scale ichiban kuji wrap-around graphics on the second floor to make the themed store immediately recognizable. The second floor houses ichiban kuji kiosks and seven large display cases showcasing limited-edition figures and merchandise. A gashapon kiosk is also set to be added later this month.

"We will continue to actively develop differentiated content such as unique kiosks to offer customers new entertainment and shopping experiences," said Song Jeong-hwan, a merchandise director on GS Retail's service products team.