[르포] Seoul’s largest’Healing Department Store’ opened in Yeouido

Half of the business area is a landscaping and relaxation space The Hyundai Seoul, natural light to the first floor through the glass ceiling

[서울파이낸스 장성윤 기자] The Hyundai Seoul, which I visited on the 25th of the pre-opening period, was bright and comfortable as if in an outdoor garden. Even on the first floor, I could feel the sunlight shining through the glass ceiling, and the sound of water from the artificial waterfall and the greenery of the natural park gave a refreshing feeling as if in a real park.

On the 26th, the nature-friendly department store The Hyundai Seoul, prepared with great care by Hyundai Department Store, officially opened. It has 7 floors below the ground and 8 floors above the ground, with an operating area of ​​89,100 square meters. It is the largest among department stores in Seoul. Parking lot is provided from the 6th basement level to the 3rd basement level, and a total of 2248 cars can park at the same time.

According to Hyundai Department Store, The Hyundai Seoul is a nature-friendly future department store that applies’retail therapy (healing through shopping)’. In fact, about half (49%) of the total business area was decorated with interior landscaping or customer rest areas. In preparation for the post-corona era, customer movement has also been expanded. The maximum width of each floor is 8m, which is two to three times wider than other department stores. At 8m, 8 strollers can move simultaneously. There were plenty of rest areas inside the building, so customers who were tired of shopping could sit and relax from the distance.

The Hyundai Seoul is open from the ceiling to the first floor with the middle of the building open, so you can feel natural light from the first floor. The ceiling is all made of glass, and eight red cranes support the ceiling load. On the first floor, there is a waterfall garden with a 12m high artificial waterfall. A cafe was placed near the artificial waterfall on each floor so that customers can enjoy tea time while listening to the sound of the water.

On the 5th floor, the Sound Forest, an indoor park with a size of 1,000 pyeong, is built. Sounds Forest is decorated with 30 trees and flowers on natural grass. Green Dome, a food and beverage space, was prepared on the 5th and 6th floors. The green dome is a motif of the dome ceiling, the symbol of the Grand Palais at the French National Museum.

On the first basement floor, Tasty Seoul, the largest global food hall in Korea, was established. The number of brands in stores reaches 90, and the total store size is larger than that of two soccer fields (7140㎡) combined. In addition to famous restaurants in Seoul, such as bakgane bindaeteok, cubes, and old jokbal, famous dessert shops in Seoul such as Taegeukdang and Cafe Layered have also been opened. In the middle of the store, the food court’Food Truck Piazza’, which has 8 food trucks, was also introduced.

Transparent screens were installed on each table to prevent the spread of Corona 19. On the second basement floor, popular brand stores, such as Porter and This Is Never That, were built around escalators to reflect the trends of young consumers. You can also meet Lightning Market Lab, a specialty store for used sneakers operated by the online used trading app Lightning Market.

Hyundai Department Store was preparing for Corona 19 by installing large multi-recognition heating checkers used at airports at all exterior entrances of The Hyundai Seoul. Hand-held thermal imaging cameras and facial recognition heat checkers were installed at the entrances of the vehicle and at the entrances to the basement to individually inspect customers for heat.

Hyundai Department Store predicted that the sales of The Hyundai Seoul will reach 630 billion won for one year after opening. Annual sales in 2022 are expected to reach 700 billion won.

An official at Hyundai Department Store said, “The Hyundai Seoul is mostly decorated as a healing space, and it is expected that family-level customers will be the main customer base.” I will lose.”

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