E-Mart plans to open a new store in South Korea's Chungcheong region around year-end, with Cheongju the leading candidate. The retailer already operates a Cheongju store in Seowon District but sees additional demand from the city's industrial complexes, including SK Hynix and LG Energy Solution, as well as urban development. E-Mart is also developing a mixed-use shopping complex at the Cheongju Technopolis site, targeted for completion in 2028, after acquiring the land in 2017 and 2022. The new store would come about 18 months after the E-Mart Food Market Godeok opening in April last year. E-Mart is the only hypermarket operator opening a new store in South Korea this year, while Homeplus has entered corporate rehabilitation proceedings and reduced its store count from 117 last year to 67. E-Mart also plans to open a Traders warehouse-style discount store in Uijeongbu within the year. Its quick commerce service will expand from about 110 stores to all 132 locations by year-end through SSG.com's Baro Quick and Baedal Minjok, with stores using short-distance delivery where those services are unavailable. No Brand expanded quick commerce from four directly operated stores to 100 within a month of its late-April launch and targets 150 by year-end. Store renovations, Starfield Market conversions and an integrated online-offline retail media network are also generating growth, with renovated locations reporting higher sales and converted stores recording substantial increases in visits and revenue. E-Mart's second-quarter standalone gross revenue rose 3.5% year over year to 4.44 trillion won, while operating profit increased 64.1% to 25.6 billion won. Same-store sales rose 3.8% at E-Mart and 4.7% at Traders, accelerating in July to 8.6% and 8.5%, respectively, while Everyday grew 12.5%.