[비즈한국] Olive Young is withdrawing all its directly operated stores from Homeplus. With a significant number of remaining directly managed stores closing simultaneously this week, only one franchised Olive Young store—the Incheon Jakjeon branch—will remain within Homeplus. Although Homeplus has secured a foothold for normalization following the recent approval of its rehabilitation plan, the departure of a marquee brand known for driving foot traffic has left the retailer with the task of boosting customer inflow and store competitiveness once again.
Olive Young Leaves Homeplus, 7 Stores Close on the 6th
Olive Young is accelerating the closure of its stores inside Homeplus. According to Bizhankook’s reporting, Olive Young will withdraw from branches in Homeplus World Cup, Geumcheon, Buk-Suwon, Seongseo, Paju Unjeong, Yeongdeungpo, and Gangseo on September 6th. With most of the remaining stores closing at once, only the Incheon Jakjeon branch will remain within Homeplus. It was confirmed that the Jakjeon branch is a franchise, not a store directly operated by Olive Young’s headquarters, and therefore was not included in this withdrawal.
As recently as early 2025, Olive Young operated in about 40 Homeplus stores, but it began reducing its presence rapidly starting late last year. In December 2025 alone, 10 stores within Homeplus closed, followed by further closures due to contract expirations and other factors. By July of this year, the number of Olive Young stores in Homeplus had dropped to around 20, and with this additional wave of closures, virtually all stores will have disappeared.
CJ Olive Young stated that these closures were not a sudden decision triggered by the Homeplus rehabilitation process. Instead, they described it as a sequential process carried out in line with a store efficiency strategy that has been in progress since the end of last year. A CJ Olive Young official stated, "This is part of a strategy to expand 'experiential stores' that offer larger spaces with added experiential elements to cater to the growing influx of domestic and foreign customers," adding, "We have already finished discussing the closures with Homeplus and are proceeding accordingly."
Initially, Olive Young had planned to withdraw all stores from Homeplus by the end of July this year. It is understood that they had maintained some stores despite the operational burden, renewing contracts by considering the specific circumstances of each location.
However, this does not mean they are withdrawing from all other hypermarkets like E-Mart or Lotte Mart simultaneously. The company’s stance is to determine whether to maintain operations based on the location and the operational efficiency of each specific store.
Olive Young has been considered a signature brand that Homeplus invested heavily in to attract external customers. Until early last year, the company had even strengthened its competitiveness by renovating and expanding the area of some Olive Young stores. However, with Olive Young effectively completing its withdrawal from Homeplus, the retailer has lost one of its core traffic-generating brands.
Other tenants remaining in Homeplus are also growing increasingly anxious. The concern is that if Olive Young’s withdrawal leads to a decline in store visitors, their own sales could be negatively impacted. A representative of a tenant company expressed concern, saying, "Olive Young has immense brand power and occupies a central spot in the store. There is no doubt that customer inflow will decrease after it leaves. I am worried that Olive Young’s departure could trigger a chain reaction where other companies follow suit."
Homeplus Overcomes Hurdles with Rehabilitation Plan Approval
Homeplus has established a foothold for normalization with the approval of its rehabilitation plan. The Seoul Rehabilitation Court held a meeting of interested parties on September 2nd to vote on the Homeplus rehabilitation plan and approved it immediately following the vote. On this day, the secured creditors' group, the rehabilitation creditors' group, and the shareholders' group voted in favor with 100%, 75.90%, and 100% approval rates, respectively, meeting all legal requirements for passage.
According to the approved plan, Homeplus will use proceeds from the sale of self-owned stores to prioritize the repayment of secured debt, while general rehabilitation claims will be repaid in installments from the 5th to the 10th year of the plan's implementation. Public interest claims are planned to be repaid in installments within three years, subject to creditor consent. The funding for these repayments will come from cash generated through operations and store sales, and the company will also pursue additional financing and future M&A activities.
However, for the rehabilitation plan to be implemented without setbacks, it must be supported by a recovery in business operations. As there are limits to sustaining a long-term rehabilitation through asset sales or additional financing alone, the key lies in boosting sales and profitability at existing stores.
In a situation where the foundation of operations must be restored, the continued departure of a brand with high drawing power like Olive Young is a significant burden for Homeplus. With talk of potential additional departures by other brands, the task of restoring store competitiveness and customer traffic appears to be a difficult road ahead.
A tenant company official noted, "We took a breath of relief after the rehabilitation plan was approved, but there is still a great deal of anxiety among store owners about what will happen next. Since we can only continue our business if Homeplus survives, we are hoping for a quick normalization so that we can operate with peace of mind."
The labor union also emphasized that normalizing operations after the approval of the rehabilitation plan is critical. Ahn Soo-yong, head of the Homeplus branch of the Mart Industry Labor Union, emphasized, "Approval of the rehabilitation plan is not the end, but a new beginning. Now, the most important thing is for Homeplus to be reborn as a sustainable company. We must find a good buyer and successfully complete an M&A."