Massive Fire Guts 11M Units at Korean Fashion DC, Disrupting Black Friday Flows

One of South Korea’s largest manner warehouses was forced to adjacent aft a monolithic occurrence astir burned down the analyzable connected Saturday, importantly hampering inventory astatine a large manner and retail conglomerate successful the state up of its Black Friday income event.

E-Land World, a South Korean retailer that generates 51 percent of its income from apparel and manner merchandise, operates the organisation center. The retailer licenses brands including New Balance and G-Star, and owns labels including SPAO, Hunt, Who.A.U. and Roem, among others.

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The 2.1-million-square-feet tract successful Cheonan, South Korea hosted an estimated 11 cardinal products, including covering and footwear, astatine the clip of the fire.

The occurrence started astatine the four-story logistics center, which is located astir 90 kilometers (56 miles) southbound of Seoul, astatine astir 6 a.m. The main blaze was contained astatine 3:30 p.m., astir 9 and a fractional hours aft the occurrence began, according to firefighters. It took 60 hours to extinguish the afloat fire.

The bluish conception of the warehouse partially collapsed, portion the confederate exterior was stripped distant by vigor and flames. A structural technologist astatine the tract said the building’s interior supports had apt failed from wrong owed to vigor stress.

To enactment retired the fire, authorities mobilized 430 personnel, 11 helicopters and 150 pieces of equipment. The nonstop origin of the occurrence is presently unknown, and volition beryllium determined aft a elaborate investigation, authorities said.

The afloat grade of the harm from the occurrence is expected to beryllium assessed aft an on-site probe scheduled for Friday.

E-Land Fashion unveiled Sunday that deliveries of immoderate products would beryllium delayed oregon canceled successful the aftermath of the fire. Orders of products that could lone beryllium delivered from the Cheonan logistics halfway were canceled.

Various brands, including New Balance, posted akin notices connected their websites.

“Unexpected delays successful logistics halfway operations person caused immoderate orders to beryllium shipped aboriginal than usual,” New Balance said. “Products are being prepared for shipment successful sequence.”

Following the fire, E-Land ramped up operations astatine its home and overseas accumulation sites to minimize disruptions to proviso during its Black Friday event, which began Monday.

“We person suffered tremendous losses arsenic a effect of this accident,” E-Land World CEO Cho Dong-ju said successful an interior email to employees connected Wednesday. “What pains maine astir is that each the invaluable products we spent truthful agelong preparing person been destroyed.”