North American tourists drive spending surge at GS25 convenience stores

North American shoppers are becoming a major revenue driver for GS25, a leading Korean convenience store chain, with foreign spending at its outlets more than doubling this year and expanding beyond traditional tourist districts in Seoul. GS Retail, which operates GS25, said Thursday that sales to North American customers rose 130.9 percent from a year earlier during the January-August period, the fastest growth among international customer groups. North American customers accounted for about 30 percent of GS25’s foreign customer sales, their largest share on record, while customers from Greater China accounted for about 40 percent. The gap between the two groups narrowed to roughly 10 percentage points, according to GS Retail’s analysis of its customer data. North American shoppers showed a preference for canned beer, wine and spirits, as well as sports drinks, energy drinks and other beverages, with canned beer sales particularly strong. Customers from Greater China showed stronger demand for dairy products and convenience foods, including milk, fermented milk products, noodles and