The Hyundai Seoul Surpasses 800 Billion KRW in Sales One Year After Opening... "Expects to Exceed 1 Trillion KRW Next Year" (Comprehensive)

The Hyundai Seoul Records Highest Sales in First Year Among Domestic Department Stores
Establishes Position as 'MZ Department Store' with Bold Space Design and Innovative Content
920 Billion Won This Year, Aiming for '1 Trillion Club' Next Year... Over 30 Additional MZ Brands to Enter

The Hyundai Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Yuri] The Hyundai Seoul has surpassed 800 billion KRW in sales within one year of its opening, setting a new record for first-year sales among domestic department stores. The success is attributed to its bold spatial design, store composition, and differentiated MD competitiveness, which effectively targeted the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) leading consumer trends. Continuing this momentum, the goal is to join the '1 trillion KRW sales club' in the shortest period among domestic department stores next year.

Hyundai Department Store announced on the 27th that cumulative sales at The Hyundai Seoul reached 800.5 billion KRW as of the 26th, marking its first anniversary. This figure exceeds the initial sales target of 630 billion KRW by nearly 30%. Approximately 30 million customers visited The Hyundai Seoul during this period, meaning that 3 out of 4 adults aged 20 and over in Korea (about 43.19 million) visited the store.

The cumulative sales of 800.5 billion KRW at The Hyundai Seoul are significant as they were achieved despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, which made large-scale marketing difficult, overcoming the geographical limitations of Yeouido as an 'office town.' Hyundai Department Store CEO Kim Hyung-jong said, "The Hyundai Seoul is meaningful in that it attracted the MZ generation, who are accustomed to online shopping, back to department stores through differentiated spatial composition and content." He added, "We expect to achieve 920 billion KRW in sales this year and over 1 trillion KRW next year."

If The Hyundai Seoul reaches 1 trillion KRW in sales next year, it will join the 1 trillion KRW club in just 2 years and 10 months after opening, becoming the fastest domestic department store to achieve this milestone.

The Hyundai Seoul 'Sounds Forest'.

When The Hyundai Seoul opened last year, it attracted attention by applying the concept of 'retail therapy (healing through shopping)' for the first time in Korea, dedicating half of its total sales area (89,100㎡) to indoor landscaping and customer rest areas. It introduced innovative content such as the department store industry's first unmanned store, 'Uncommon Store,' and designed the basement level 2 as 'Creative Ground' targeting the MZ generation. This included Asia's first store of ARKET, the top SPA brand of the H&M Group (Sweden), sneaker resale specialty store 'BGZT (Bungaejangter) Lab,' luxury watch resale shop 'Yongjeong Collection,' and the popular online men's fashion brand 'coor,' all of which are rarely seen in domestic department stores.

The proportion of customers aged 30 and under at The Hyundai Seoul is overwhelmingly high. Analysis of sales by age group over the past year shows that those in their 20s and 30s account for 50.3% of sales, more than twice the 24.8% share of 20-30s sales at the other 15 Hyundai Department Store branches combined. Half of the sales come from customers aged 30 and under. In terms of the number of purchasing customers, the 20s and 30s also have a higher proportion than other age groups, accounting for 19.3% and 38.9% respectively, totaling 58.2% of customers under 30.

Notably, many of these 20s and 30s customers are destination shoppers. 54.3% of total sales came from a wide commercial area located more than 10 km away from The Hyundai Seoul, and 75% of these customers were aged 30 or younger. The company analyzes that young customers sensitive to trends visited The Hyundai Seoul regardless of physical distance.

The popularity of The Hyundai Seoul is also evident on Instagram, a platform mainly used by younger generations. Instagram posts tagged with The Hyundai Seoul exceeded 310,000 as of February 25, marking the highest number of hashtags among domestic retail facilities within one year of opening, with social media mentions reaching one million.

Customer interest is also reflected in various figures. The average time customers spent in the 3,300㎡ (about 1,000 pyeong) indoor garden 'Sounds Forest' was about 37 minutes, more than nine times longer than the average stay time of 4 minutes at fashion brands in The Hyundai Seoul. This shows that The Hyundai Seoul's 'retail therapy' concept, combining nature and healing, captivated customers. Approximately 1.4 million customers in their 20s and 30s purchased products at the basement level 2 MZ generation specialty zone 'Creative Ground' over the past year. This means that one out of every two 20-30-year-olds living in Seoul (2.88 million) shopped at 'Creative Ground.'

Additionally, the Hong Kong-style restaurant 'How Sum,' which ranked first in sales among F&B brands in 'Tasty Seoul' on the basement level 1 of The Hyundai Seoul, sold 117,886 plates of dumplings over one year, which stacked would match the height of the Himalayas (8,035 meters). The complex cultural space 'ALT.1' attracted 200,000 visitors to exhibitions such as 'Andy Warhol' and 'Teresa Freitas,' marking the largest scale in the retail industry.

Hyundai Department Store plans to develop The Hyundai Seoul into Korea's representative 'lifestyle landmark' while accelerating its achievement of '1 trillion KRW in sales' in the shortest period in the department store industry. They plan to introduce about 30 'hip' brands targeting the MZ generation and intensify efforts to secure potential customers through surrounding commercial area development.

Recently, designer brand 'Andersson Bell,' which has received acclaim domestically and internationally, and tech accessory brand 'Casetify,' known for collaborations with luxury brands, opened their first department store locations. By the first half of this year, emerging fashion brands such as men's outerwear brand 'Insilence' and street fashion brand 'Badblood' will sequentially open their first department store stores.

They are also strengthening their global luxury lineup. Following the sequential openings of Tiffany, Saint Laurent, Boucheron, and Thom Browne last year, French luxury brand Dior is scheduled to open in July. Unique pop-up stores of global brands such as Vacheron Constantin and Prada will continue to be introduced for The Hyundai Seoul's substantial 'young & rich' customer base.

The accelerated development of the commercial area around The Hyundai Seoul is expected to be a positive factor in the future. More than 6,700 households are scheduled to move in within a 5 km radius of The Hyundai Seoul this year alone, and Seoul City plans to develop Yeouido into the 'Seoul Digital Financial Hub Support Center' by 2025, leading to an increasing number of domestic and international fintech startups settling in Yeouido.

A Hyundai Department Store official said, "With The Hyundai Seoul's competitiveness proven in terms of sales and buzz, we expect to speed up negotiations for entry with global luxury brands." He added, "We plan to nurture The Hyundai Seoul as Korea's representative department store through various experiments that break the fixed notions of department stores in the future."

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