Lotte mart to open 200th outlet in China

Lotte Mart Co., South Korea's third-largest discount chain store, said Tuesday that the opening of a new location in northeastern China will mark its 200th store, adding that it plans to raise the number of its worldwide stores to 1,000 in seven years. The store in Changchun, Jilin Province will start operations on Wednesday, according to Lotte Mart. The company said that it will increase the number of overseas outlets to 700 and reach 25 trillion won (US$23.3 billion) in sales by 2018 while domestic stores will be expanded to 300 with 25 trillion won in sales. The discount chain store, run by South Korea's largest retail conglomerate Lotte Group, will become the first South Korean retailer to have 200 outlets, with 92 stores in South Korea and 108 in foreign countries -- 83 in China, 23 in Indonesia and two in Vietnam. The company said earlier this week that it will open three additional outlets in the provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Liaoning, and eight stores in the eastern region of China in 2011. It also said that it plans to open its first store in India next year. Lotte Mart's overseas sales reached 2.6 trillion won last year, compared with domestic sales of 5.9 trillion won, which are expected to rise to 7 trillion won this year.