Makro Fully Integrated Into Lotte

Lotte has finally finished the integration of Makro in China after it acquired the latter five months ago.

All Makro stores will change their name to Lotte Mart and Lotte's first self-opened store in China was opened in Wangjing on June 18, 2008.

At the end of January 2008, Lotte Group, a major Korean business group, wholly acquired Makro Supermarket, a Netherlands brand that has operated in China for 11 years, for CNY1.28 billion. Over the past five months Lotte has been busy integrating the Makro supermarkets into the group. With the integration, Lotte has shifted the supermarkets' focus from wholesale to retail. In addition, they will become another sales channel for the food products of Lotte Group.

After the acquisition, Lotte retained all the employees and senior managers of Makro with the exception of the general manager. Because of differences in management styles between the two companies, the Makro employees were retrained by Lotte.

According to Lotte China, the group will open 200 to 300 stores in China in the next ten years. However, considering the competition in this marketplace the group will only open 15 to 20 marts in Beijing.

At present, Lotte owns eight store in China, including six in Beijing and two in Tianjin, and the group has been selecting new sites in cities and provinces such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, and Liaoning.