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Convenience store, retailer sales boom during BTS comeback performance

Published: 22 Mar. 2026, 18:49 Updated: 22 Mar. 2026, 20:27

Customers are seen outside a CU convenience store near Gwanghwamun Square on March 21, the day boy band BTS held a comeback performance at the square in central Seoul. [CU]

"BTSnomics" wasn't just hype, it would seem. Convenience stores and retailers saw a sharp spike in sales during BTS’s comeback performance on Saturday, as thousands of fans gathered around Gwanghwamun Square.

"BTSnomics" refers to the massive economic ripple effects and financial value the BTS concert was expected to generate, with businesses stocking up products and merchandise ahead of the boy band's comeback.

Sales at three CU roadside stores next to the performance venue on Saturday rose more than fivefold compared with the same day a week earlier, according to the convenience store chain on Sunday.

By item, sales of whole gimbap, or rice rolls, jumped 1,380.4 percent, sandwiches 1,146.7 percent, triangle gimbap 884.3 percent and bottled water 831.4 percent. At CU’s Gwanghwamun and Gwanghwamun Square branches, the top four items by sales were BTS albums. AA batteries in four-packs and Montbest bottled water ranked fifth and sixth.

“A lot of customers were looking for batteries for their light sticks, and Montbest bottled water was popular because the color of its cap is purple,” a CU official said. Purple is BTS's signature color.

GS25 also posted strong gains, with sales at five stores near Gwanghwamun Square rising 233.1 percent and visitor numbers increasing 181.2 percent on Saturday compared to a week earlier.

As crowds remained outdoors for extended periods, demand surged for practical items, including hot packs, up 5,698.8 percent, batteries, up 3,530.8 percent and portable chargers, up 2,016.9 percent.

At 7-Eleven and Emart24 stores, batteries, ready-to-eat foods and wet wipes also led sales growth.

Customers crowd a GS25 convenience store near Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on March 21. [GS25]

The spillover extended beyond convenience stores to department stores and hotels.

Foreign-customer sales at Lotte Department Store’s main branch from Thursday through Saturday rose 135 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Lotte Department Store. Shinsegae Department Store’s total sales at its Myeongdong main branch also increased 41 percent on Friday and Saturday, according to the company.

Hotels in the Myeongdong and Gwanghwamun areas were fully booked ahead of the performance.

At BBQ Cheonggye Plaza near Gwanghwamun, foreign visitors accounted for 80 percent of customers on the day of the event.

Despite the surge, some stores faced backlash over unsold inventory after the performance. Photos circulated online showing large quantities of leftover gimbap and sandwiches at stores near Gwanghwamun.

Convenience store apps showed that as of Sunday morning, some outlets still had more than 90 gimbap items in stock.

Leftover gimbap and sandwich products are piled at a convenience store near Gwanghwamun Square in this photo taken from a social media account [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The surplus of stock raised questions about whether turnout fell short of initial expectations.

The event had been projected to attract 260,000 people, but police later estimated the crowd at around 40,000.

“In some stores, not all of the stock prepared in advance was sold due to crowd controls and other factors, but we plan to provide support so franchise owners do not suffer losses from disposal,” a convenience store industry official said.

“When there is a large event, we sharply increase orders to prevent products from selling out,” said another industry official. “This time as well, we expanded inventory to about 100 times the usual level, but the disposal rate remained within the normal range of less than 5 to 10 percent.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LIM SUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]