A convenience store chain with about 18,500 locations in South Korea is coming to Hawaii.
Local real estate investor and developer Robert Kurisu plans to open CU stores initially in urban Honolulu under a master franchise agreement, starting with a flagship location in Executive Centre, the downtown Honolulu hotel and condominium tower.
The first Hawaii store, slated to open by the end of the year, will be the first U.S. location for the chain focused on selling Korean brands of food, household items, cosmetics and other merchandise.
Kurisu said in a news release that CU Hawaii stores also will feature Korean rice rolls called gimbap, reimagined popular local dishes such as poke and loco mocos, as well as new flavors of musubi, bentos and sandwiches.
Other features of CU Hawaii stores, which are slated to range in size from 700 to 2,500 square feet, include instant ramyeon or ramen cooking stations and customizable drinks.
“Due to the high cost of living in Hawaii, local people deserve affordable, convenient, quality options for every day life,” Kurisu said in the release. “We look forward to introducing CU, a fresh and modern Korean convenience store, to the Hawaii market.”
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A representative of Kurisu’s venture, CU Hawaii LLC, said information was not available on how many more CU stores are envisioned in Hawaii, where any expansion in the state may occur and when.
Local retail analyst Stephany Sofos said other retailers in Hawaii have already demonstrated local demand for Korean merchandise that suggests CU will do well.
“It’s catering to a market that everybody wants,” she said.
In 2020, Korean specialty grocery store H Mart opened an initial Hawaii location in Kakaako followed by a second store in Pearl City two years later.
A much older player has been Palama Super Market, established in 1977 in Pawaa as Dae Han General Grocery Store. Palama Super today has three grocery stores and four Palama Express convenience stores on Oahu, including one downtown. The first Palama Express store opened in 2016 at Aloha Tower Marketplace.
Hawaii’s convenience store landscape has long been dominated by 7-Eleven generally and ABC Stores mainly in resort areas.
CU was established as a convenience store brand in 2012 by Seoul-based BGF Retail. BGF opened its first convenience store, Garak- Siyoung Store, in 1990. Prior to establishing CU, BGF had been in the business through a licensing agreement with FamilyMart, Japan’s second- largest convenience store operator behind 7-Eleven.
BGF began expanding CU outside South Korea in 2018 and since then has added about 680 stores in Mongolia, Malaysia and Kazakhstan.