Shelves for Acasia Honey by Dongsuh Foods remain empty at Homeplus Special in Seoul's Dongdaemun District, Sunday. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan

Homeplus, a major supermarket retail store chain company that last week entered a court-led rehabilitation process amid liquidity worries, is facing supply instability at some of its stores, leaving shelves empty or poorly stocked during its special sale period.

Some partner firms that had been supplying goods to Homeplus stores nationwide halted and then resumed their supplies over the weekend after the company filed for receivership, due to concerns about payment. Homeplus is desperately reassuring its partners of its robust financial standing, and while supply is showing signs of normalization, stock shortages were observed in some stores, raising concerns about the company's sales.

Amid ongoing difficulties, the food, beverage and liquor aisles have been particularly impacted.

At a Homeplus Special store in Dongdaemun District, northeastern Seoul, visited on Sunday afternoon, shelves in the beer section remained empty in several spots, including the usual space for Kelly's 1,000-milliliter bottles by HiteJinro. A section dedicated to Dongsuh Foods' instant coffee brand Maxim also remained partly empty, with only a front row stocked. Part of an aisle reserved for Dongsuh Foods' honey also remained nearly empty.

Ottogi's instant rice, Starbucks' whole coffee bean pouches, Nongshim's instant noodle packets and cup noodle boxes also remained either completely or partly empty. At a section inside the store for displaying popular food items with 360-degree exposure, part of the space remained not stocked at all.

The situation was not limited to the food aisles. The hygiene product aisles on a different floor also showed insufficient stock.

Another Homeplus store in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, saw a similar situation. According to a local shopper who visited the store in the city's Buk District on Friday, many shelves remained not fully stocked after shoppers flooded the store to purchase items promoted during a sale started last week.

A space for food and beverage products remains empty inside Homeplus Special in northeastern Seoul's Dongdaemun District, Sunday. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan

Visitors to another Homeplus store in Seoul's Mapo District on Saturday also observed empty shelves for instant noodles and snacks, as well as empty freezer spaces for dumplings. A store clerk mentioned that some items were in short supply and would be replenished on Monday.

Homeplus said Friday some of its partner firms that had cut off their supplies agreed to resume deliveries, including CJ CheilJedang, Ottogi and Nongshim. Bills for other suppliers whose supplies were temporarily on hold were also paid on Thursday and their products will return soon, Homeplus added.

Homeplus also made delayed payments for Lotte Wellfood and Samyang Foods on Friday. Lotte Wellfood resumed deliveries the next day and Samyang Foods said it would do so on Monday.

However, several other suppliers, including Lotte Chilsung, Dongsuh Foods and Paldo, are still in talks to determine whether to resume deliveries.

With supply chains disrupted, suppliers are expressing concerns over the company's ability to generate cash flow this week, after its ongoing sale — which has temporarily boosted the number of visitors to Homeplus stores — ends on Wednesday. The company said sales from its promotional event from Feb. 28 to March 3 increased by 5 percent compared to last year and reached record highs for its discount events.

While some big-name companies have started resuming supplies, others have not, reportedly because Homeplus has not yet shared its plan for recovering cash flow and maintaining the supply network for its 127 stores nationwide.

In particular, these companies are expressing concerns over Homeplus' payment period for delivery invoices, which range from 45 to 60 days. This period is twice as long as that of other supermarket chains, creating greater uncertainty due to the company's financial situation.

Homeplus said on Thursday that it has resumed its payments for general commercial bonds which had been temporarily halted as it began its rehabilitation process. The company said it currently has over 300 billion won ($207 million) in outstanding for immediate use and expected another cash influx of 300 billion won from its sales this month, "which would be altogether enough to pay back all our commercial bonds."