Our Read on Sappun’s Indonesia First Expansion

South Korean women’s footwear brand Sappun has chosen Indonesia as the starting point for its international retail expansion.

The company has already opened five monobrand stores and is targeting a network of 30 Indonesian stores within five years.

But the more important question is not how quickly Sappun can open stores.

It is whether Indonesia can become a repeatable operating base for the brand’s wider Southeast Asian expansion.

Sappun is expanding into Southeast Asia through Indonesia, marking what the company describes as the first overseas expansion of a Korean women’s footwear brand.

The Korean label is operated by FNS Retail and entered Indonesia through an exclusive partnership with Surya Bumi Retailindo, a local retail operator that manages more than 20 international brands across sports, fashion, and lifestyle categories.

The partnership gives Surya Bumi Retailindo exclusive distribution rights for Sappun in Indonesia and establishes the foundation for longer-term retail expansion.

Sappun has opened standalone stores across major Indonesian shopping destinations, including:

• Lippo Mall Puri
• Plaza Senayan
• Grand Indonesia
• Tunjungan Plaza 3
• Pakuwon Mall Bekasi

The brand has also expanded through shop-in-shop formats at Central Department Store and Sogo. Its current Indonesian store directory lists locations across Jakarta, Bandung, Bekasi, and Surabaya.

According to Inside Retail Asia, sales at its early Indonesian stores were comparable to Sappun’s flagship locations in South Korea.

The company plans to build a network of 30 stores in Indonesia within five years, while also preparing to enter Vietnam.