Hyundai Livart's Furniture Sales Soar Thanks to 'January Graduation Ceremonies' for the New Semester

Sales of Children's and Student Households and New Semester Supplies Up 10.4% in January-February

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] As the 'January graduation ceremony' becomes the trend in elementary, middle, and high schools, demand for children's and student furniture has surged since the beginning of the year. Hyundai Livart, an interior company affiliated with Hyundai Department Store Group, announced on the 12th that sales of children's and student furniture from January this year to the 9th have increased by 10.4% compared to the same period last year.

Hyundai Livart attributes this sales growth to the fact that graduation ceremonies, which were usually held in mid-February, have been moved up to early January. A Hyundai Livart official explained, "The demand for children's and student furniture, which used to surge at the end of February with spring break every year, has recently increased simultaneously with the January graduation ceremonies. This is because more customers are purchasing children's and student furniture or new semester supplies in advance to prepare the learning environment for the next academic year."

In fact, most elementary, middle, and high schools have recently been holding graduation ceremonies in early January. In Sejong Special Self-Governing City, all schools (116 in total), including kindergartens, held graduation ceremonies in January this year. The rates of January graduation ceremonies are also in the 80-90% range in Gangwon Province (96.6%), Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (91.8%), and Gyeonggi Province (86.3%). Even in Seoul, where the January graduation ceremony rate is relatively low at 13.7%, 232 schools (11 elementary schools, 147 middle schools, and 74 high schools) held graduation ceremonies in January for the 2019 academic year, a more than 25-fold increase compared to 9 schools in the 2018 academic year.

To capture the earlier new semester demand, Hyundai Livart is conducting aggressive marketing both online and offline. Since last month, children's and student furniture has been prominently placed in the main showrooms of 14 Livart Style Shop directly managed exhibition halls nationwide, and the display ratio has been increased from the previous 10% to 20%. Additionally, at the beginning of this month, the main banner advertisements on the online mall were changed to promotions offering discounts and gifts related to children's and student furniture.

The release schedule for children's and student furniture and new semester supplies has also been advanced. Seven new products from the Livart Kids 'Blue Label Kids Series,' originally scheduled for release at the end of March, will be introduced this month. Previously, in November last year, the 'New Libro Series' furniture for middle and high school students was launched, and in December, new backpack sets from 'Pottery Barn Kids,' a kids-specialized brand of the American premium home furnishing company Williams Sonoma (WSI), were introduced. The release of the 'New Libro Series' was brought forward by three months, and the Pottery Barn Kids backpack sets were launched about a month earlier.

Starting this year, Hyundai Livart is considering adjusting the release schedule of new children's and student furniture products from the usual January-February period to November-December to prepare for the earlier new semester demand. They have already begun developing new student furniture products, including desks, bookshelves, drawers, and beds, targeting a November release. Additionally, about ten new shoe bag products from 'Pottery Barn Kids' are planned to be introduced around October, earlier than usual, in consultation with Williams Sonoma in the U.S.

Lee Young-sik, Executive Director of Sales Strategy Division at Hyundai Livart, said, "We will continue to enhance our competitiveness in the B2C market by offering products and services that reflect customers' lifestyles."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.