Brands Sourced by Emart to Be Sold at Department Stores

Popup Store Opens at Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam, Offering Premium Tableware
First Introduction of British Luxury Porcelain 'Royal Worcester' Previously Available Only via Direct Import in Korea
Strengthening Capabilities with New Brand Sourcing Team, Brand Sourcing Sales Expected to Increase by 80% This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] Emart is selling brands imported from overseas at department stores.

Emart announced on the 14th that it has imported the premium tableware brands 'Royal Worcester' from the UK and 'Tassen' from Germany, and opened a 39.7㎡ (12-pyeong) pop-up store on the 9th floor living section of Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam branch until the 21st, selling a total of 60 products. 'Royal Worcester' is one of the six major brands of the UK’s Portmeirion Group and is a luxury porcelain brand with a 269-year-old history.

Representative products include eight types of mugs from the ‘Warrendale’ line, created in collaboration with famous British designer Hannah Dale, each priced at 32,000 KRW. The Korean exclusive launch collection 'Monarch Pasta Bowl,' which reinterprets past patterns preserved in the Royal Worcester design archive with a modern sensibility, is priced at 55,000 KRW.

'Tassen' is a brand born by expressing characters appearing in works of the famous German animation studio 'Fiftyeight Products' on mugs, teacups, bowls, and more. Officially launched around 2009, it is an unusual brand that gained fame in a short period and is regarded as having elevated tableware to collectible ‘goods.’ The products are characterized by humorous and fun facial expressions engraved on them, boasting fine colors and strong durability based on Germany’s unique and sophisticated manufacturing methods. Three types of mugs are each priced at 45,000 KRW.

Emart is selling these overseas brands through Shinsegae Department Store rather than Emart itself to select the optimal sales channel considering the characteristics of the products and to successfully establish the brands early in the domestic market. Emart is strengthening its own sourcing capabilities and becoming the official importer and seller of overseas brands in Korea.

Emart took its first step in brand sourcing by importing the European premium infant formula Aptamil to Korea. Before Emart’s domestic launch, Aptamil was only available through overseas direct purchase. However, in 2017, Emart officially imported it and began popularizing it, achieving sales of 12 billion KRW in the first year with consumer support. Currently, sales channels have expanded to external platforms such as Coupang, Tmon, and Wemakeprice, recording sales of 18.3 billion KRW last year and continuing to grow. Accordingly, Emart established a brand sourcing team in 2018 to secure sales rights for individual brands that are popular with consumers but hard to find domestically. Through this, in 2018, Emart brought in Crane, a home appliance brand known for the humidifier used by Ivanka Trump, daughter of former US President Donald Trump, and last year imported the Australian stationery brand 'Smiggle.' Smiggle products are supplied to Lotte Department Store, Hyundai Department Store, Homeplus, and online channels.

An Emart representative explained, "We focused on the growth potential of the premium tableware market and, after about 10 months of effort, signed sales contracts for Royal Worcester and Tassen last year and started full-scale brand sales activities this year. To position the brands appropriately for premium tableware, we selected department stores as the main launch channel and opened a pop-up store."

Emart expects brand sourcing sales to increase by more than 80% compared to the previous year. In this process, the brand sourcing team, which started with six members, has grown to 16, and a separate domestic sales part was added to supply sourced brands to various domestic channels.

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