Provided by Hyundai Department Store
People seemed to be out of breath. Due to the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19), it seemed that he could not hold up his desire to leave the house that had been stuck for several months due to cold weather. The Hyundai Department Store’s’The Hyundai Seoul’, which was officially opened on the 26th, was crowded with people regardless of luxury goods, home appliances, and food stores. They proved that they are willing to visit any space where they can have a pleasant experience.
○“A department store that is not like a department store”
The Hyundai Seoul officially opened on the 26th. Reporter Noh Yoo-jung.
The concept of The Hyundai Seoul is’Retail Therapy’. Although it is a shopping space, it focuses on’healing’ so that consumers can rest freely. Sunlight also falls on the first floor of the department store due to the glass windows on the ceiling and the architectural technique that pierces all floors of the building. It is a sense of openness close to premium outlets in the suburbs.
In The Hyundai Seoul, 49% of the total business area is a rest area. It greatly exceeds the average of Hyundai Department Store (35%). This relaxation space is decorated in a nature-friendly way. All the plants that decorate the interior landscaping space on all floors of the department store are fresh flowers. An official at Hyundai Department Store explained, “The cost of plant management is two to three times that of a general store in Hyundai Department Store.”
The strategy was successful. On this day, there were no empty tables and benches in the 5th floor indoor park’Sound Forest’ covering 3300 square meters. “It’s not like a department store,” said Lee (in her 50s), who was taking a video while taking a turn with her smartphone. People lined up on the railing opposite where you can see the Sound Forest at a glance. Waterfall Garden, a 12m high artificial waterfall on the third floor of the department store, also became a photo spot.
Provided by Hyundai Department Store
It’s not just a reduction in the area of the store. In department stores, there is a’golden space’ where clothing stores are most profitable. It is a place that attracts the most attention, such as next to the escalator or near the signature. The Hyundai Seoul is also decorated as a space where people eat, drink, and play. A cafe and restaurant were opened in the middle of the 2nd and 3rd floors overlooking the waterfall garden, and the bookstore’Steelbooks’ was opened next to the escalator on the 1st basement floor.
○Specialized exhibition hall, the largest food hall in Korea… “Come to play and eat”
The cultural space, which was at the level of matching assortment in the existing department stores, has been strengthened in earnest. The largest space on the first floor, the’face of a department store’, is not a luxury or cosmetics store, but a cultural space. ‘Studio Swine’, an artwork of 180 pyeong, made the slopes into mirrors and erected pillars that drop soap bubbles everywhere.
On the 6th floor, the ALT.1, a complex cultural facility of 350 pyeong, was designed as a specialized exhibition hall. An expensive thermo-hygrostat was installed to preserve the state of art. Andy Warhol’s large-scale retrospective exhibition’Andy Warhol: Beginning Seoul’, held to commemorate the opening, reveals 153 pieces.
The underground food hall, which is the largest in Korea, was filled with people even at 2pm, after lunch break. There are more than 90 food and beverage brands on a scale of 14,820 square meters. It surpassed Hyundai Department Store’s Pangyo branch (13,860㎡), the largest food hall in Korea. Eight stores for food trucks representing Seoul’s Bamdokkaebi night market, and’Kang Ho Yeonpa’, a shabu-shabu store with 1.33 million subscribers,’Bob Gupnam’, attracted attention.
There was also a store considering the local characteristics. 11 luxury imported watch stores, such as IWC and Jaeger-LeCoultre, which target office workers in Yeouido, a business hub, were located on the first floor. On the 1st basement floor is the 3rd store of’Wineworks’, a wine specialty store in Hyundai Department Store. An official at Hyundai Department Store said, “It is the only store outside of Gangnam.”
Lightning Market offline store’BGZT Lab’. Reporter Noh Yoo-jeong
The second basement floor is a zone specializing in MZ generation (millennials + Z generation). The representative runner is’BGZT Lab’, the first offline store of used trading app Lightning Market. Recently, it is the largest domestic sneaker resell (resell) store that is rapidly growing mainly for young people. About 300 pairs worth 500 million won are on display. Choi Jae-hwa, Vice President of Lightning Market (CMO), introduced, “The average purchase price is over 1.5 million won, but only on the first day of pre-opening, reservations exceeded 50.”
On the 24th, the pre-opened by The Hyundai Seoul, the number of visitors was about 70,000. It was recorded that more than 7,000 people entered the heat detector at one of the 11 entrances of The Hyundai Seoul, which was officially opened on the 26th, when a reporter entered at 1:30 pm. Even considering the’open foot’, it is a considerable number. Hyundai Department Store expects that The Hyundai Seoul will achieve 630 billion won in sales for one year after opening even in the corona 19 crisis.
Reporter Noh Yoo-jeong [email protected]