"Running to Department Store After Work" Lotte Department Store's 'Dongtan Night Running' Gains Popularity

Lotte Department Store, 80% of Dongtan Branch Sales from '2040 Generation'
'Young Commercial Area' Customized Content 'Dongtan Night Running' Event Held
Participants Registration Sold Out in 2 Hours 'Popular'

Lotte Department Store Dongtan Branch × Dongtan Running Crew.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Lotte Department Store Dongtan Branch is expanding unique content through cooperation with local communities, targeting the key demographic of people in their 20s to 40s.

Lotte Department Store announced on the 13th that since the opening of the Dongtan Branch in August last year, the proportion of sales from customers in their 20s to 40s has exceeded 80% of the total sales at the Dongtan Branch until last month. It is analyzed that young local residents and content targeting them were effective. According to Hwaseong City, as of last year, the average age of Hwaseong citizens was 37.8 years, which is 3 years younger than the Gyeonggi-do average of 41.8 years. The Dongtan Branch targets the experience-oriented younger generation by filling more than half of its total sales area with experiential content such as art and food & beverage (F&B), and offers various events.

Reflecting local characteristics, the store has strengthened cooperation with local communities. A representative example is the "Dongtan Night Running," which runs around the Dongtan Branch together with the local running club "Dongtan Running Crew (DTRC)." The first "Dongtan Night Running," held on the 4th, saw about 50 participants running approximately 6 km starting from the Dongtan Branch. The department store said, "The number of participants was fully booked within 2 hours of opening registration, showing great popularity." Starting in September, they plan to operate a regular running course incorporating activities such as "plogging," which involves picking up trash while running.

They are also expanding activities supporting local art and cultural communities. In April, a mini concert was held for the choir "Singing Angels," active in the Dongtan area, receiving great responses from both choir members and visiting customers. Currently, the Dongtan Branch is publicly recruiting a "Street Dance Crew" and a "Busking Performance Crew" through Instagram. The street dance crew welcomes participation from youth amateur clubs to professional dancers, and based on the recruited crew members, a "Street Dance Competition" is planned for the second half of the year. They are also recruiting busking performance groups covering various genres from classical to K-pop, supporting collaborative performances in various spaces within the Dongtan Branch.

Jongseong Lee, head of Lotte Department Store Dongtan Branch, said, "The Dongtan Branch is a locally customized store that breaks the mold of traditional department stores and reflects the characteristics of the Dongtan commercial district to the fullest." He added, "We plan to continuously introduce unique content exclusive to the Dongtan Branch by further strengthening cooperation with local communities as a landmark representing Dongtan."

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