{
  "id": 11117872,
  "title": "North American tourists drive spending surge at GS25 convenience stores",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/north-american-tourists-drive-spending-surge-at-gs25-convenience-11117872",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-01T05:37:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/companies/20261001/north-american-tourists-drive-spending-surge-at-gs25-convenience-stores"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "GS25, a prominent Korean convenience store chain, is experiencing a surge in revenue from North American tourists, with their spending more than doubling this year. This growth, reported by GS Retail, surpassed expectations and extended beyond traditional tourist areas in Seoul. The company's analysis reveals that sales to North American customers surged by 130.9 percent during the first eight months of the year, marking the fastest increase among international customer groups. North American visitors now constitute roughly 30 percent of GS25's foreign customer sales, a record-high share. In comparison, customers from Greater China accounted for about 40 percent of foreign sales. However, the gap between the two groups has narrowed to around 10 percentage points. North American shoppers displayed a preference for certain products, favoring canned beer, wine, spirits, sports drinks, and energy drinks. Canned beer sales, in particular, showed strong demand. On the other hand, customers from Greater China demonstrated a stronger preference for dairy products and convenience foods, including milk, fermented milk products, and noodles.",
  "summary": "North American shoppers are becoming a major revenue driver for GS25, a leading Korean convenience store chain, with foreign spending at its outlets more than doubling this year and expanding beyond traditional tourist districts in Seoul. GS Retail, which operates GS25, said Thursday that sales to North American customers rose 130.9 percent from a year earlier during the January-August period,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "North American tourists drive spending surge at GS25 convenience stores",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/north-american-tourists-drive-spending-surge-at-gs25-convenience",
        "published": "2026-10-01T05:12:04.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}