Following Louis Vuitton, Chanel Also Leaves... Lotte Busan and Shilla Jeju Stores Closing

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] As the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton has announced its withdrawal from downtown duty-free shops in Korea, Chanel has also notified the suspension of its duty-free store operations in Busan and Jeju.

According to industry sources on the 8th, Chanel informed that it will withdraw from Lotte Duty Free Busan and Shilla Duty Free Jeju by the end of March. These two duty-free shops were the only locations in the provinces where Chanel was present.

Chanel Korea stated regarding this withdrawal decision, "After careful consideration of the overall business stability of the company and the situation of employees, this decision was made," adding, "We intend to focus our operations on downtown Seoul and airport duty-free businesses to maintain our value as a top luxury brand."

Earlier, Louis Vuitton announced plans to start closing its stores at Shilla Duty Free Jeju, Lotte Duty Free Busan, and Jamsil World Tower stores in March, and to completely withdraw from downtown duty-free stores at Lotte, Shilla, and Shinsegae main stores between October this year and March next year.

It is known that Louis Vuitton made this decision to focus more on airport duty-free shops, especially domestic airport duty-free shops in China, rather than downtown duty-free shops.

An industry insider said, "Provincial duty-free shops such as those in Busan or Jeju currently have no sales potential," adding, "Although there is hype locally with open runs and daigou activities, since these buyers do not come down to Busan or Jeju, sales are sluggish, which likely led to the decision to withdraw."

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