"Going to the Department Store to Play Tennis" Lotte Department Store Experiments with Court-Integrated Store Design

Jamsil Lotte World Mall, 150-Pyeong Experiential Tennis Store
Various Products Including Limited Editions + Lessons on Actual Courts

Lotte Department Store is launching an experiential tennis store at Jamsil Lotte World Mall. Customers can shop for tennis products from various brands all in one place, and the store also features an actual tennis court where lessons are available.

On the 9th, Lotte Department Store announced that it will grand open 'Tennis Metro,' an experiential tennis store of approximately 500㎡ (about 150 pyeong) on the 3rd floor of Jamsil Lotte World Mall on the 13th. Partnering with Tennis Metro, the largest tennis distributor in Korea, Lotte Department Store plans to go beyond the traditional tennis store focused on product sales by installing a tennis court and enhancing experiential elements to create a complex cultural space.

Models are posing at the large tennis pop-up 'The Court' held last year at Lotte World Mall in Jamsil, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Lotte Department Store].

At Tennis Metro, a wide range of products from famous brands to limited editions will be showcased, along with personalized one-on-one services. Lotte Department Store categorizes products into three lines (Essential, Selective, Archive) to meet customer needs. The Essential line offers basic tennis equipment and apparel needed for matches, featuring major brands such as Nike, Wilson, Babolat, and Prince. The Selective line is a collaboration between Lotte Department Store’s MD and PB departments, introducing hard-to-find brands in Korea such as luxury brand Hugo Boss’s 'Matteo Berrettini' tennis capsule line and 'Eleven,' launched by American tennis star Venus Williams. The Archive line offers limited quantities of rare rackets like Wilson’s 'Shift' and collaborations such as Prince and Hydrogen’s 'Tattoo' and 'Chrome.' To celebrate the opening, a limited edition Wilson×Roger Federer racket will be given away as a prize. A dedicated 'Racket Lounge' within the store provides personalized services including racket consulting and string care.

For the first time in the retail industry, a tennis court has been installed inside the store to offer various experiential contents. The tennis court measures 22m wide by 8m long, allowing customers to try out tennis equipment firsthand and receive lessons from experts. A coach who was selected as a 'Five Star,' representing the top 1% of sports players in the U.S., will be stationed to provide private and group lessons for beginners to professionals. To make tennis easy and fun for young children, 'Magic Tennis' classes will be held in collaboration with the Lotte Culture Center. In the future, the store plans to host launch shows for famous tennis brands and expand events and services utilizing the tennis court, including renting the court to tennis clubs.

Tennis court inside the experiential tennis store 'Tennis Metro' at Jamsil Lotte World Mall
[Photo by Lotte Department Store].

From May 19, a large-scale tennis pop-up called 'The Court' will be held at six locations: Jamsil Lotte World Mall, Lotte Department Store Incheon, Dongtan, Suwon, Busan Main Store, and Lotte Premium Outlets Time Villas. Last year’s tennis pop-up at Jamsil Lotte World Mall attracted about 200,000 visitors over 10 days and became a hot topic; this year, it will expand to six stores. In addition to famous brands like Nike, Prince, Babolat, Yonex, and Head, popular new brands such as Ron & De Marie, Love Forty, Saturday Leisure Club, and Invol will also be introduced.

Meanwhile, interest in tennis is growing mainly among the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), driving growth in related industries such as tennis equipment, apparel, and lessons. The domestic tennis market size increased from 250 billion KRW in 2021 to 300 billion KRW last year, and it is expected to grow to 360 billion KRW this year. While tennis is considered a representative 'noble sport' alongside golf and horseback riding, it has relatively low entry barriers and less financial burden, making it popular among young customers in their 20s and 30s.

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