CU Launches First K-Convenience Store in the United States with Grand Opening in Honolulu, Hawaii

SEOUL, South Korea - EntSun -- BGF Retail Co., Ltd. ("BGF Retail"), the operator of South Korea's No.1 convenience store brand CU, announced the grand opening of its first store in the United States with the launch of CU Downtown in Honolulu, Hawaii. This opening marks the first overseas expansion of a K-convenience store brand beyond Asia.

Following the establishment of BGF Retail Hawaii Corporation in May and a Master Franchise Agreement ("MFA") with CU Hawaii LLC, a convenience store-focused subsidiary of Hawaii-based WKF Inc. ("WKF"), BGF Retail has formally entered the U.S. convenience store market.

Under the MFA, BGF Retail, as franchisor, grants CU Hawaii LLC the right to use the CU brand and to open and operate CU-branded stores in Hawaii in return for royalty income.

WKF and its affiliated entities possess extensive capabilities across real estate development and investment, distribution, publishing, and media. Backed by more than 40 years of experience and a robust local network, they provide a solid foundation for stable and diverse business operations in Hawaii.

Hawaii is one of the United States' premier resort destinations, welcoming approximately 10 million visitors annually and offering a year-round warm and sunny climate. With relatively high restaurant and dining costs in the region, BGF Retail expects strong demand for high-quality, reasonably priced convenience store products from both tourists and local residents.

Leveraging the worldwide popularity of K-culture (with the "K-" prefix denoting Korean), BGF Retail has developed a next-generation global store format for Hawaii that combines Korea's latest consumer trends with localized elements. The Hawaii stores are designed to function not only as convenience stores, but also as K-culture platforms accessible to customers from around the world.

The first CU store in Hawaii, CU Downtown, is a large-format CU convenience store of approximately 230 square meters (approximately 2,480 square feet), located in Downtown Honolulu, the city's largest central business district. Its location provides convenient access for nearby office workers, hotel guests, tourists, and local residents.

CU Downtown has been created with a design concept that combines CU's brand identity with the local sentiment of Hawaii. Hawaiian art patterns designed by leading local artist Sig Zane are applied throughout the store, including the interior, staff uniforms and product packaging, emphasizing the harmony between CU's brand identity and Hawaii's local culture.

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Operating under the concept of "K-food meets Aloha," the store presents the distinctive products and services of K-convenience stores based on three key strategies: CU Differentiation, Collaboration and K-Lifestyle.

CU has established a dedicated "PBICK" zone, its master private brand area, which offers a wide range of products including K-food items popular among international customers such as gim-bugak (seaweed crisps), as well as ramyun, instant rice, toilet paper and other daily necessities. In line with Hawaii's year-round warm climate, CU also offers its private brand iced drink "delaffe" pouch beverages year-round.

CU's popular signature products, including the Yonsei Milk Cream Bread series, Knotted Donut series, PEACEMINUSONE Highball and Real Fresh Fruit Slice Highball products, are also sold at the store. A dedicated goods zone featuring "K-ROO," one of CU's "CU Friends" brand characters, offers keyrings and other exclusive merchandise available only at CU Hawaii, serving as a key point of differentiation. In addition, CU Downtown sells more than 20 types of collaborative souvenirs with Sig Zane, including tumblers, mugs and reusable shopping bags featuring Hawaiian pattern designs.

In Hawaii, where dining expenses are relatively high, CU is placing particular emphasis on ready-to-eat meals. As a representative category of K-convenience stores, CU's ready-to-eat products are introduced in three lineups: K-original, K-fusion and Local flavor.

K-original includes products that faithfully reproduce Korean dishes enjoyed in Korea, such as Jeonju bibimbap, tuna mayonnaise and dak-galbi.

K-fusion features Korean fusion recipes such as a kimchi short rib lunch box, developed in collaboration with Chef Sheldon Simeon, who has twice finished as runner-up on the U.S. cooking competition program Top Chef.

Local flavor includes menu items familiar to Hawaiian customers, such as Spam musubi and loco moco lunch boxes.

To meet strong local demand for coffee, CU has partnered with well-known Hawaiian brand Island Vintage Coffee to offer freshly prepared coffee and roasted beans, as well as smoothies, slushies and other self-serve beverages from in-store machines.

CU Downtown also highlights various K-lifestyle products. A K-beauty specialized zone offers around 40 items, including sheet masks, sunscreen and lip tints from K-beauty brands with strong recognition among overseas customers.

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To enable customers to experience K-culture on-site, the store has introduced a "Ramyun library" format where customers can cook and enjoy instant ramyun. Representative Korean foods such as tteokbokki are provided in meal kit form so that customers can prepare and enjoy K-style street food themselves.

In addition, a photo booth kiosk—now established as a representative leisure activity among Korea's MZ generation—has been installed. To commemorate CU's entry into Hawaii, a dedicated photo booth with CU Friends character frames allows customers to take instant photos inside the store.

Since executing the MFA, BGF Retail has, over the past five months, provided WKF with concentrated support on distribution infrastructure, including logistics operations and food manufacturing-related know-how. CU Downtown brings together BGF Retail's capabilities accumulated over more than 30 years in the convenience store business in Korea and overseas, including strong product planning capabilities and systematic distribution network management.

CU Downtown embodies a next-generation global convenience store model, featuring an optimized layout that reflects diverse customer purchase purposes and retail technologies such as a self-checkout zone to enhance customer convenience and operational efficiency. In addition, CU has introduced a Time-PLU system for ready-to-eat product barcodes that automatically prevents items past their expiration date from being sold, further strengthening trust in its food safety management.

Starting with CU Downtown, BGF Retail plans to open additional stores in various locations, including major tourist destinations such as Waikiki Beach, key commercial districts such as Ala Moana and Kahala, and high-end residential areas. Based on store formats tailored to each location, the plan is to accelerate openings with a target of 50 stores within the next three years.

Jungkuk Hong, Vice Chairman of BGF Retail, said:
"Based on the unparalleled brand power and systematic franchise system that BGF has built over the past 30 years, we are now able to offer Korea's tastes, sensibilities and innovative convenience store experience in Hawaii. Through this entry into the U.S. market, CU will prove the global potential of Korea's convenience store industry and further solidify its position as a K-trend platform that spreads Korean culture throughout the world."

**Photo caption
BGF Retail Vice Chairman Jungkuk Hong (center left) and CU Hawaii CEO Robert Kurisu (center right) pose for a commemorative photo at the opening ceremony held in front of the first CU store in Hawaii.

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