Over the past few issues you have learned about the various domestic accounts that Daymon Interactions has, but you may not know that we also operate internationally. This month, as we celebrate America and our country’s 236th anniversary, I thought it would be interesting to share with you a little bit about how our international accounts do business.
First, let’s take a look at our Lotte operations in Korea. Vice President Roy Timmerman oversees the business from our office in the capital city, Seoul. LotteMart is the third largest hypermarket chain in Korea, and we currently do business in 28 of 99 locations throughout the country, with an aggressive expansion plan for this year and the coming years, both in Korea as well as internationally.
Two specific Korean major holidays include the Lunar New Year, locally known as Seollal, which is the mid-autumn holiday and Chuseok, which can be described as the Korean Thanksgiving. In addition to Christmas, Buddha’s birthday is a very important national holiday in South Korea. These are some of the busiest times of the year for our associates, as more events are going on in-store.
Last week, I traveled to Seoul to celebrate the grand opening of VIC, a new warehouse store format that LotteMart is unveiling. DI has been awarded exclusivity for the event sampling program in this new warehouse format, and we are thrilled to be a part LotteMart’s growth.
Our joint venture with Japanese retailer Aeon is managed by Vice President Micah Wightman, and the main office is in Chiba, Japan. This year alone, Aeon opened 240 new stores, effectively doubling their store count. This brings the total number of locations we operate in to 450.
One fun fact about how Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Japan is that it is a holiday where only the women give chocolate to men. One month later, on March 14, is White Day, where men reciprocate and give chocolate to women. As you can imagine, our Aeon associates execute a lot of chocolate events around both Valentine’s Day and White Day!
I hope you enjoyed this brief look at our global operations, and as we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July tomorrow, I wish you all a happy holiday.
Sincerely,
Jeff Engel
Senior Vice President