Renewed After 11 Years... Targeting MZ Generation
Equipped with the Largest 'Sports Specialty Hall' in the Seoul Metropolitan Area
Original Characters and Goods... First Attempt by Hyundai Department Store Cheongnyeon
[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] Hyundai Department Store Jungdong Branch is renewing its young fashion specialty hall U-PLEX for the first time in 11 years to target the MZ generation. It is equipped with the largest sports specialty hall in the metropolitan area and armed with character content and trendy brands. The plan is to create a vibrant ‘Shopping Energy Park.’
Hyundai Department Store announced on the 22nd that U-PLEX, the young fashion specialty hall at Jungdong Branch (from basement level 6 to ground level 7, with a sales area of 24,000㎡), will reopen on the 23rd after seven months of internal renovation work.
Hyundai Department Store Jungdong Branch consists of the ‘Main Building,’ housing luxury, cosmetics, fashion, living, and food brands, and ‘U-PLEX,’ filled with young fashion brands. This is the first time since the opening of Hyundai Department Store Jungdong Branch in 2010 that U-PLEX has undergone a full-floor internal renovation.
Kim Dong-rin, manager of Hyundai Department Store Jungdong Branch, said, “Through the U-PLEX renovation, we created a space that can propose a new lifestyle to the future customers, the MZ generation. We optimized the movement flow by relocating escalators and applied artistic elements in the interior to provide customers with new experiences through various attempts.”
The newly renovated Jungdong Branch U-PLEX will be filled with about 130 trendy domestic and international brands preferred by the MZ generation. On basement level 1, a ‘Street Fashion Zone’ gathering about 10 popular online brands will be established. This includes Hyundai Department Store’s own curated shop ‘Peer,’ casual brand ‘Covernat,’ women’s fashion brand ‘Lifework,’ and fashion brand ‘Nerdy.’ On the 1st floor, fashion brand stores such as contemporary curated shop ‘The Ilma’ and global SPA brand ‘AllSaints’ will be introduced, while on the 2nd and 3rd floors, experiential stores such as the caf?-style nail salon ‘Powder Recipe’ and the ‘Microsoft Premium Store,’ where customers can try out gaming consoles and laptops, will be showcased.
On the 4th and 5th floors, the largest ‘Sports Specialty Hall’ in the metropolitan area will be established across two floors. With a sales area of 3,769㎡, it will include ultra-large experiential stores such as ‘Nike Sport,’ ‘Adidas Stadium,’ and ‘New Balance Total,’ as well as 34 domestic and international sports brands including department store first flagship stores like ‘FILA Museo,’ ‘Le Coq,’ and ‘New Era.’ Additionally, extreme sports brand ‘Boardriders’ and sports casual brand ‘Juok’ will be introduced for the first time in Korea. Hyundai Department Store plans to sell sports specialty hall brands and various limited-edition products.
To strengthen communication with the MZ generation, Jungdong Branch U-PLEX also created its own character. This is the first time Hyundai Department Store has produced a store-specific character. ‘Clover,’ a virtual girl group concept consisting of four female characters, was created in collaboration with ‘Namu13,’ an artist recently gaining attention for retro-style illustrations. Jungdong Branch plans to use Clover to create fun and exciting offline store experiences and produce goods, offering various storytelling content.
To celebrate the reopening of U-PLEX at Hyundai Department Store Jungdong Branch, various events will be held. From the 23rd to the 4th of next month, customers who purchase more than 100,000 or 200,000 KRW at U-PLEX will receive 5% of the purchase amount in gift certificates. Until the 11th of next month, customers who newly sign up for Hyundai Department Store Group’s integrated membership ‘H Point’ at Jungdong Branch will receive one free single regular Baskin Robbins ice cream.
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