MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos love K-dramas and K-pop, but perhaps, there aren’t enough lovers of Korean grocery items. 

At least, not enough to sustain South Korea’s specialty grocery No Brand in the Philippines. 

The Gokongwei Group’s Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) announced on Wednesday, March 25, the closure of all 11 No Brand standalone stores in the Philippines by end of June 2026. 

“This development is consistent with the Company’s overall strategy and reflects its ongoing efforts to simplify its portfolio and focus on retail formats that deliver strong and sustainable returns,” said RRHI, the Philippines’ second biggest retail conglomerate.

Robinsons Retail introduced No Brand to the Philippines in 2019 via a master franchise agreement with No Brand owner Emart of South Korea. 

Robinsons Retail opend the first No Brand store in Robinsons Galleria in Quezon City on November 22, 2019 and expanded to other Robinsons Malls and select malls of the Ayala Group, Filinvest Malls of the Gotianun family, and Shangri-La Plaza of the Kuok Group.

As of December 2025, there were No Brand outlets in the following malls:

• Robinsons Galleria
• Robinsons Antipolo
• Robinsons Magnolia
• Robinsons Metro East
• Robinsons Imus
• Robinsons Ermita
• Trinoma
• UP Town Center
• Shangri-La Plaza
• Ayala Manila Bay
• Ayala Center Cebu
• Circuit Makati  
• Festival Mall 
• Glorietta 4 
• Alabang Town Center

Aside from ramyeon or instant noodles, No Brand offers a wide range of No Brand snacks (chips, cookies, biscuits, nuts, etc.), Lotte Luncheon Meat, frozen Korean dumplings and kimchi, Korean drinks (coffee, juices, etc.), Melona ice cream, among others. Select No Brand goods are also sold in other Robinsons Retail stores like Shopwise.

“The decision reflects evolving consumer preferences and how customers are choosing to shop across our retail formats,” said RRHI president and CEO Stanley Co. 

“Our focus remains on meeting customer needs by providing relevant assortments in the most appropriate formats. We thank Emart for the partnership over the past several years.”

RRHI has been holding frequent No Brand “grand sale” events offering big discounts, but these apparently failed to deliver good returns.

No Brand started in South Korea in 2015 and marketed as “a customer-centric grocery store which prioritizes quality over brand and fancy packaging.”

In a stock exchange disclosure, Robinsons Retail said the closures will not affect its financial performance since No Brand accounts for only 0.2% of its annual sales and “constitutes a very small portion of the Company’s total assets.” 

As of end of 2025, Robinsons Retail had 2,700 company-owned stores, mostly TGP branches numbering over 2,100. It also operated 157 Robinsons Supermarket, 159 Robinsons Easymart, 38 The Marketplace, 16 Shopwise, and 415 Uncle John’s convenience stores. 

Despite the closure of No Brand’s standalone stores, there are still thousands of small Korean grocery stores throughout the country selling frozen meats for the popular Korean barbecue, Melona ice cream, and other Korean groceries. – Rappler.com