"Lotte Department Store Yeongdeungpo Branch's 'First Renewal in 10 Years', Opens Children's Specialty Zone"

Lotte Department Store Yeongdeungpo Branch Begins Renovation to Attract Young Customers
Children and Infant Specialty Zone Expanded from 820 to 1,250 Pyeong

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] Lotte Department Store Yeongdeungpo branch has first renovated part of the children and infant specialty section on the 8th floor. This is the first full-scale renewal of the Yeongdeungpo branch in 10 years.

According to Lotte Department Store, the decision to renovate and open the children and infant specialty section first was greatly influenced by the commercial district.

According to Statistics Korea data, the Yeongdeungpo commercial district is an area where 31.9% of Seoul’s population in their 20s and 30s reside. It has a high proportion of young generations even within Seoul, and the proportion of infants and toddlers is also higher than the Seoul average. Additionally, the infant and toddler population in the southwestern region is about 1.5 times that of Suwon, reaching approximately 160,000, and since Yeongdeungpo is the center of the southwestern region, the demand for infant-related content is expected to increase steadily.

Furthermore, including Yeongdeungpo Station where the branch is located, the Gyeongin-ro area has been selected as an urban regeneration activation zone, and recent related plans have been announced. By next year, new residential complexes will be established within the Yeongdeungpo commercial district, with 20,000 households composed of small to medium-sized units suitable for families of 1 to 4 members moving in, which is expected to significantly increase the influx of young family customers.

The newly introduced children and infant specialty section covers a total area of 4,100m² (about 1,250 pyeong). The children and infant stores, previously located on the 7th floor with 16 brands, were moved to the 8th floor, expanding the area by 2,700m² (about 820 pyeong) and now consist of a total of 42 brands. In addition to children and infant brands, lifestyle and fashion brands that parents can shop with their children were added.

Besides the premium infant select shop Little Ground and over 30 domestic and international children and infant fashion brands, the product lineup was strengthened through specialized infant education brands such as My Little Tiger. Also, brands for moms and dads were placed, including the comprehensive infant & mom fashion and lifestyle store ‘Itda’, the new lifestyle goods space ‘Yogibo’ that adds healing value beyond comfort, and the SPA brand ‘Topten’, creating a complex space that satisfies not only children’s fashion but also play, education, fashion, and living styles simultaneously.

The experience space was also expanded. On the 20th, the AI robot brand ‘Humanoid’ will be introduced for the first time in the industry. At Humanoid, customers can experience and purchase AI robots (priced around 1 million KRW) and coding robots (priced between 100,000 to 300,000 KRW), and through a professional coding consultant stationed in the store, coding education can be received in a classroom set up within the store, making it a total shop.

In a space of 750m² (about 230 pyeong), experiential kids cafes ‘Doctor Balance’ and ‘Sangsang Sketch’ will be launched. Doctor Balance, the first to open in the nearby commercial district, is a kids cafe with the concept of “Play healthy.” It allows children’s health indices to be checked through self-developed health games, which are stored as big data to compare with past figures. Sangsang Sketch is an art experience play space where children can enjoy various art activities such as clay, slime, and crafts. Doctor Balance is scheduled to open in early July, and Sangsang Sketch in mid-June.

Starting with children’s play and experience, the department store created a space where infant customers and families, who are hidden VIPs leading family shopping, can stay and shop together, not just a space for selling products. In fact, after the Lotte Department Store Ansan branch reopened with a renovation at the end of 2018, the average purchase amount of customers visiting the Pororo Kids Park in 2019 was confirmed to be 1.7 times higher than that of general customers.

Park Jung-gu, head of Lotte Department Store Yeongdeungpo branch, said, “The children and infant specialty section also means attracting family customers and creating future customers,” adding, “We plan to make Yeongdeungpo branch a signature shopping space that combines experiences and emotions that can only be experienced offline.”

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