Lotte 1171762 225542341 2008-07-14T06:10:53Z 71.217.36.48 {{otheruses}} {{Infobox East Asian |title=Lotte |logo= |logowidth=75 |hangul=롯데 |rr=Rotde |mr=Rotte |katakana=ロッテ |hepburn=Rotte |chinese=樂天 |pinyin=lètīan }} '''Lotte Group''' is a large [[South Korea]]-[[Japan]] [[chaebol]] ([[Conglomerate (company)|conglomerate]]). LOTTE Co., Ltd. was established in June 1948 in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]] by a Korean businessman, [[Shin Kyuk-Ho]] ({{lang|kr|신격호}}) also known as Shigemitsu Takeo ({{lang|jp|重光 武雄}}). Lotte Group consists of over 50 business units employing 38,000 people engaged in such diverse industries as [[candy]] [[manufacturing]], [[beverage]]s, [[hotel]]s, [[fast food]], [[retail]], [[financial services]], [[chemical plant|heavy chemicals]], [[electronics]], [[information technology|IT]], [[construction]], [[publishing]], and [[entertainment industry|entertainment]]. Today, Lotte is South Korea's 5th largest conglomerate. Lotte has major operations in [[South Korea]], [[Japan]], [[China]], the [[Philippines]], [[Thailand]], [[Indonesia]], [[Vietnam]], [[India]], [[United States of America|USA]], and [[Russia]] and continues to expand. ==Business== Lotte's corporate headquarters are located in Seoul and Tokyo, with offices also in [[Beijing]]. According to the company's Korean website, Lotte of Korea had 30 trillion [[South Korean won|won]] in sales in 2005. Lotte of Japan employs 3,600 persons and operates 5 production facilities, 7 branch offices, and a research center in [[Saitama, Saitama|Saitama]]. The company's core business focus in Japan is the production and sale of [[chewing gum]], [[chocolate]], [[biscuits]], [[beverages]], [[candy]] and [[ice cream]]. In addition to candy and chewing gum, Lotte also operates the [[Lotteria]] chain of [[fast food]] restaurants, [[Lotte Hotel]], the [[Lotte Cinema]] chain of cineplexes, and [[Lotte World]] in Seoul, one of the world's largest indoor [[theme park]]s. Lotte also owns the [[Lotte Giants]] [[baseball]] team in [[Busan]], South Korea and [[Chiba, Chiba|Chiba]] [[Lotte Marines]] in Japan. They also own franchise licenses for [[Krispy Kreme]] doughnut shops, [[7-Eleven]] convenience stores, and the [[T.G.I. Friday's]] restaurant chain in South Korea. ==History== The group was founded in June 1948 in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]] by a Korean businessman, [[Shin Kyuk-Ho]] ({{lang|kr|신격호}}, {{lang|kr|辛格浩}}), also known by his Japanese name, {{nihongo|Takeo Shigemitsu|重光 武雄}} two years after graduating from Waseda Jitsugyo high School ({{lang|jp|早稲田実業学校}}). Originally called ''LOTTE Co., Ltd'', the company has grown from selling [[chewing gum]] to children in post-war Japan to becoming a major [[multinational corporation]]. After the [[normalization]] of [[Japan-Korea relations]] in 1965, [[Lotte Confectionery|Lotte Confectionary Co., Ltd]] was established in [[Seoul]] on [[April 3]], [[1967]]. ===Name=== The source of the company's name is neither Japanese nor Korean, but German. Shin was impressed with [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]'s "[[The Sorrows of Young Werther]]" (1774) and named his newly-founded company Lotte after the character Charlotte (also the name of a new brand of deluxe movie theatres run by Lotte) in the novel. Lotte's current [[marketing]] [[slogan]] in Japan is {{lang|ja|お口の恋人ロッテ}} (o-kuchi no koibito Lotte), which is translated as "your palate's sweetheart, Lotte". ==See also== *[[Lotte Chilsung]] *[[Lotte Department Store]] *[[Lotte Card]] *[[Lotte Capital]] *[[Lotte Confectionery]] ==External links== * Lotte Group Korea ([http://www.lotte.co.kr/ Korean] / [http://www.lotte.co.kr/english/ English]) * Lotte Group Japan ([http://www.lotte.co.jp/ Japanese] / [http://www.lotte.co.jp/english/index.html English]) {{Lotte}} {{Chaebol}} [[Category:Chaebol]] [[Category:Food companies of Japan]] [[Category:Lotte|*]] [[Category:Companies established in 1948]] [[de:Lotte Group]] [[ko:롯데 그룹]] [[nl:Lotte]] [[ja:ロッテ]] [[ru:Lotte]]