B&Q pulls out of South Korea

I had written this post a few days back about B&Q, a UK based retailer that is owned by the Kingfisher Group, being interested in opening stores in India. Here's some more news about the company via Retail Week. B&Q will be pulling out of South Korea due to lack of suitable sites and high property costs. This is interesting as the company is sure to face similar problems in India, where the commercial property prices are some of the highest in the world. The company has two stores in Seoul at present. The company says that the South Korean market was a trial market for Kingfisher and since it has proved to be quite difficult to operate there, they will be withdrawing. Last year, Carrefour and Wal-Mart also pulled out of the country, making South Korea one of the hardest markets to operate in. B&Q will continue with its expansion in Asia though, and will open it's first store in Hong Kong next month.