Homeplus launches third discount event in two weeks as empty shelves tell a different story

"I keep coming back because I want Homeplus to return to the way it used to be."

It was 4 p.m. Thursday at the Homeplus Wolgok branch in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, and a shopper in her 30s was picking through the grocery aisles when she offered that thought. A local resident, she said she had been glad when Homeplus reopened, but had since heard it might close for good. "I came by today on purpose, hoping it might help even a little," she said.

Homeplus kicked off its third discount event since resuming operations that day, offering Korean beef and pork at half price to members of its "My Homeplus" membership program. A 30-egg carton of US-origin white eggs was priced at 3,990 won, and 100 grams of blue crab at 990 won. Steep discounts were also applied to fruit and vegetables: cherry tomatoes were priced at 6,990 won for members — 3,000 won less than the non-member price — and 400 grams of Canadian cherries sold for 4,950 won under the membership rate.

The shift to membership-based discounts reflects the fallout from credit card companies severing their partnership agreements with Homeplus after the Seoul Bankruptcy Court moved to terminate its rehabilitation proceedings last month. Those ties were not restored even after the proceedings were extended and operations resumed. "Since we can't offer card-company partnership discounts, we've replaced them with membership discounts," a Homeplus official said.

The Korean beef section drew the most foot traffic. Shoppers crowded around a display banner reading "50% off all Korean beef," their hands busy sorting through cuts. QR codes allowing on-the-spot membership sign-ups were posted nearby. The rest of the store was comparatively quiet.

A shopper in her 70s in the meat section said Homeplus had long been her go-to for Korean beef. "I don't know about other things, but Homeplus has good Korean beef," she said. "For other products, E-mart and Hanaro Mart are nearby, so I can't say Homeplus is the cheapest." She added that she did not know how to use the membership program. "I came because of the discount, but there doesn't seem to be that much to buy," she said.

In practice, not every shelf was fully stocked. One display in the meat section had been filled with unrelated items — cutting boards and utensils. The seafood section's freezer cases held processed snacks such as dried filefish, pollock jerky and beef jerky in place of fresh catch. While the snack and ramyun aisles were packed with major brand products, empty shelves became more common deeper inside the store.

The gaps point to an unresolved dispute between Homeplus and its suppliers. With the Seoul Bankruptcy Court's final rehabilitation plan approval hearing set for Sept. 4, Homeplus has been asking 1,267 suppliers and other public-interest creditors to agree to installment repayment of outstanding debts. The push is meant to bolster the credibility of a revised rehabilitation plan the company submitted to the court this month, but suppliers who have yet to receive payment for goods already delivered have shown little willingness to participate.

The total amount of public-interest debt for which Homeplus is seeking installment repayment consent from suppliers stands at around 503 billion won ($364 million), with the supplier consent rate in the 30 percent range. Most of those who have agreed are understood to be suppliers whose business with Homeplus recovered after operations resumed.

The supplier dispute continues to weigh on the company. After resuming operations on Aug. 13, Homeplus drove total sales over five days to 43.7 billion won through large-scale discount events — a 191 percent increase compared with the July 2–6 period just before operations were suspended. But from the second weekend onward, supply constraints on some products reportedly dragged sales back down. The latest discount event is also being read as a short-term measure to lift sales ahead of the court hearing.