{"id":39192,"date":"2026-08-11T19:44:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=39192"},"modified":"2026-08-11T19:44:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:44:40","slug":"mbk-owned-homeplus-reopens-but-shelves-remain-poorly-stocked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=39192","title":{"rendered":"MBK-owned Homeplus reopens, but shelves remain poorly stocked"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/ph\/st\/th\/8971786456229\/2026\/i\/17864566235376\/v1.5\/MBK-owned-Homeplus-reopens-but-shelves-remain-poorly-stocked.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The shelves of a Homeplus store in western Seoul remained poorly stocked Friday after its reopening a day before. Photo by Tae-gyu Kim\/UPI&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;\n                                            <\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"story_dl\">SEOUL, Aug. 11 (UPI) &#8212;<\/span> South Korean discount chain Homeplus, which is owned by private equity firm MBK Partners, temporarily resumed operations at the end of last week ahead of a full-scale reopening slated for Thursday after a monthlong suspension.<\/p>\n<p>However, the retailer appears not yet ready to fully welcome shoppers, with many shelves remaining poorly stocked as of Saturday.\n<\/p>\n<p>MBK acquired Homeplus from Tesco in a multibillion-dollar transaction in 2015. The Seoul-based retailer, however, entered court-led rehabilitation proceedings in early 2025 after years of mounting losses.<\/p>\n<p>MBK, which is headed by Chairman Michael Byungju Kim, subsequently gave up its rights to more than $1.5 billion in Homeplus common equity as part of efforts to facilitate a sale of the struggling retailer, but attempts to find a buyer proved unsuccessful.<\/p>\n<p>Against this backdrop, the court suspended the rehabilitation proceedings last month, fueling concerns that Homeplus could face liquidation.<\/p>\n<p>The bankruptcy court later extended the rehabilitation proceedings until early next month after the cash-strapped retailer secured $130 million in funding needed to continue restructuring efforts.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have continued to receive inquiries regarding the progress of reopening our 67 key stores. We would therefore like to provide a detailed update on the current situation,&#8221; Homeplus said in a statement Friday.\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We expect to complete all preparations by Wednesday,&#8221; it added. &#8220;Currently, about 30% of the planned merchandise inventory has arrived at stores, with additional deliveries scheduled to continue through Wednesday.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the optimism of Homeplus, some shoppers appear to remain skeptical about the future of the financially distressed retailer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have been shopping at our Homeplus store for years. The store has been my go-to place for everyday necessities,&#8221; Kim Soo-jin, a Seoul housewife in her 30s, told UPI.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There aren&#8217;t enough products in stock, so I&#8217;m not really sure what we can do. I think that things will eventually improve down the road, but I don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s going to happen from here, either,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The shelves of a Homeplus store in western Seoul remained poorly stocked Friday after its reopening a day before. Photo by Tae-gyu Kim\/UPI&#13; &#13; SEOUL, Aug. 11 (UPI) &#8212; South Korean discount chain Homeplus, which is owned by private equity firm MBK Partners, temporarily resumed operations at the end of last week ahead of a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/sv\/ph\/og\/i\/8971786456229\/2026\/1\/17864566235376\/v1.5\/MBK-owned-Homeplus-reopens-but-shelves-remain-poorly-stocked.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}