Wherever you look or go, especially in the metro, there’s always evidence of the Hallyu wave – whether it’s food, clothing, music, or films and shows. The undying and ever-stronger love of Filipinos for K-Dramas and K-Pop has indeed made the Hallyu wave bigger than ever.
On a daily basis, Korean influence on food, music, and films has become part of our lives. Filipinos are enthused to experience being transported to another reality where they can get to do the things that their K-idols do. Thanks to disruptive concepts like FunHan Mart, experiencing Korea without that big dent in the pocket has been made possible.
Launched in May 2021, FunHan Mart is the first Korean convenience store franchise in the Philippines, and in just a year, they opened eight more branches in the metro. In an exclusive interview with FunHan Mart’s Business Development Manager Hanna Pagkatipunan, she shared some fun and great insights into their journey and vision as a company.
Here are three secrets you should know about FunHan Mart:
1. The name FunHan is a pun from the Korean word 뻔한 (peon-han) which means being obvious and transparent.
We chose this name for our brand because when you see and enter FunHan Mart, you would see clearly the fun and vibrant colors of our products and there is no need for any explanation on what to expect. The customers will have a clear experience of being in a Korean convenience store while still being here in the Philippines. Also, during its birth while the pandemic was at its heights, we wanted to create a business that would help ease the anxiety of people since Korean drama has become very popular during that time. We wanted to provide comfort, convenience, and happiness to our customers all at the same time.
2. Unlike others, Funhan sources it product straight from Korean companies
Although there are other Korean stores, FunHan Mart offers a large variety of items. What we aim is to bring most of the popular Korean brands here in the Philippines. With this, we establish customer loyalty because they know that we have a wide range of choices, with some not available in other stores. What made this easy for FunHan Mart as our team directly gets the products from companies in Korea.
FunHan Mart is most known for is the all-Korean experience. We are the first to be a store that makes customers feel as if they stepped inside a portal to Korea, where they can cook their own ramen, tteokbokki, and more in a ramen maker and add toppings available in the store and we are also first in introducing the Korean trend ‘cup with ice’ which gained much popularity. Thanks to organic online features we got from our loyal patrons.
3. You can franchise it! FunHan is the first Korean Convenience Store Franchise in the Philippines
We believe that being a prime mover in this category, it is the right time to grow Funhan via franchising. Together with Francorp, we developed a franchise program that would make future franchisees/mart owners feel their investment is worth it. We wanted to make sure that franchisees feel their profit is entirely theirs as we don’t do profit sharing. We believe that this is the right time to invest since we have already established a stable market.
With the continuous growth of the Korean influence through music, tv, food, and movies, it will continually grow the market of FunHan Mart. We aim to cater to more Filipinos as we have started expansion in Visayas (Cebu) and we hope to go international in the near future.
For Funhan Mart franchise inquiries, visit https://www.ufranchiseasia.com/philippines/retail-franchise/funhan-mart or contact U-Franchise at 0917 881 6999 or franchising@ufranchiseasia.com
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