[Report] "A Small Yeouido Park Inside a Department Store" The Hyundai Seoul Bustles on Pre-Opening Day

Largest Domestic Retail Space of 89,100㎡
Half Designed Like a Park... "Shopping + Healing, Retail Therapy"
Bright Atmosphere with Sunlit Green + White... 5th Floor 'Sounds Forest' Overwhelming
High Interest in 'Creative Ground' Targeting MZ Generation
Food Hall 'Tasty Seoul' the Size of Two Soccer Fields Bustling with Office Workers

Hyundai Department Store will officially open "The Hyundai Seoul" in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 26th. The Hyundai Seoul is the largest department store in the Seoul area. It spans from 7 basement floors to 8 above-ground floors, with a retail area of 89,100㎡ (approximately 27,000 pyeong). Interior view of The Hyundai, which had a soft opening on the 24th. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] 'The largest department store in Seoul,' The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido, held a pre-opening on the 24th. From the first day of the pre-opening, long lines of customers waiting for the opening continued. What they were looking forward to was the space design with the concept of 'nature,' the large-scale food hall 'Tasty Seoul' equivalent to two soccer fields, and brands targeting the MZ generation that were hard to find in previous department stores.

Hyundai Department Store will officially open "The Hyundai Seoul" in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 26th. The Hyundai Seoul is the largest department store in the Seoul area. It spans from 7 basement floors to 8 above-ground floors, with a sales area of 89,100㎡ (approximately 27,000 pyeong). On the 24th, citizens lined up in front of The Hyundai Seoul, which opened for a preview.
Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

◆A park-like department store... Come to rest and play, then shop

The concept of The Hyundai Seoul is 'urban naturalism.' It was designed with the goal of providing visitors with 'retail therapy (healing through shopping).' The first impression perfectly matched this goal. As soon as you step onto the first floor, natural light coming from the ceiling and stores decorated mainly in white with a modern interior, along with wide walkways, create a feeling of bright space. Luxury brand stores such as Bottega Veneta, Fendi, Prada, Burberry, and Bulgari on the first floor were opened in an open style to enhance store accessibility.

Passing through a 595㎡ artwork space created by Studio Swine, you come to the Waterfall Garden featuring an artificial waterfall about 12 meters high. The ceiling above this space is entirely glass, giving an open feeling. The architectural technique called 'void,' which opens the entire building from the ceiling to the first floor, allows natural light to reach all floors.

The exterior view of The Hyundai Seoul Sounds Forest.

The 5th floor is decorated 'lush green.' Most of the 5th floor's space, 3,300㎡, is an indoor green park called 'Sounds Forest.' The ceiling height is 20 meters, equivalent to a 6th-floor apartment, and natural grass, over 30 trees, and various flowers are arranged to give an indoor space that doesn't feel like indoors. At the Green Dome located on one side of Sounds Forest, the first Blue Bottle store in a Korean department store and the handmade burger brand 'Burn Patty Burn' were crowded around lunchtime.On the upper floor of the Green Dome connected to the 6th floor, the Italian grocerant 'EATALY' opened following Hyundai Department Store's Pangyo branch. It had a higher proportion of restaurants than grocery stores.The 5th and 6th floors were created as a 'culture theme park' where visitors can enjoy culture, arts, leisure, and dining. The 6th-floor complex cultural facility 'ALT.1' was preparing for the exhibition 'Andy Warhol: Beginning Seoul,' starting on the 26th.

With a scale from basement level 7 to ground level 8 and a sales area of 89,100㎡, it is the largest department store in Seoul, but instead of increasing store area, the space for consumers to rest and heal was greatly expanded. The store area (45,527㎡) accounts for only 51% of the total sales area, and the rest is decorated as indoor landscaping and customer rest areas. This reflects the recent shopping trend where people do not come out with the sole purpose of shopping and then rest, but nearby office workers come out briefly to rest or families come out on weekends to play and 'shop while they are out.'Cafes and other stores with high customer accessibility were placed on each floor, allowing other stores on the same floor to be visible from these stores.A Hyundai Department Store official explained, "The ratio of store area to sales area at The Hyundai Seoul is about 30% (14 percentage points) lower than the average of 65% for Hyundai Department Store's 15 branches." The parking lot can accommodate a total of 2,248 cars from basement level 6 to basement level 3.

Hyundai Department Store will officially open 'The Hyundai Seoul' in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 26th. The Hyundai Seoul is the largest department store in the Seoul area. It spans from 7 basement floors to 8 above-ground floors, with a retail area of 89,100㎡ (approximately 27,000 pyeong). Interior view of The Hyundai, which had a soft opening on the 24th. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

◆MZ generation-targeted 'Creative Ground' draws attention from day one

On basement level 2, connected to the subway, some stores in 'Creative Ground' targeting the MZ generation had queues of people waiting even before and after lunchtime. The Swedish H&M Group's top SPA brand 'ARKET' opened its first Asian store at The Hyundai Seoul. It was a fairly large space combining a cafe and product store. Nike Sports Plus and Adidas Stadium also had large store sizes. The sneaker resale specialty store 'BGZT (Bungaejangter) Lab' was also busy with visitors. Stores rarely seen in Korean department stores, such as the luxury watch resale shop 'Yongjeong Collection' and the stationery specialty store 'Point of View' in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, also attracted customers before and after meals.

On basement level 1, the largest food hall in Korea, 'Tasty Seoul,' occupying 14,820㎡, larger than two soccer fields (7,140㎡ each), took up the entire floor. It also secured wide walkways to provide openness. There were over 90 F&B brands, about 10 more than Hyundai Department Store Pangyo branch. Tasty Seoul was 'fully booked' from day one. The food court 'Food Truck Piazza,' with eight food trucks in the center of the store, was also crowded.

Among the tenants were 'Suti,' a Korean BBQ menu collaboration by famous Seoul restaurants Mongtan, Tteurak, and Geum Dwaeji Sikdang; American sandwich brand 'Eggslut'; Japanese tonkatsu specialty 'Ginza Bairin'; and others. Also included were 55-year-old traditional Gwangjang Market favorite 'Bakgane Bindaetteok,' noodle specialty 'Jeongyukmyeonche,' Yeongdeungpo LA galbi favorite 'Cheonggiwa Town,' and 'Geumeum Jokbal' in Mullae-dong famous for fried jokbal. Famous Seoul dessert shops such as 'Taegukdang,' known for red bean bread and monaka; 'Cafe Layered,' known for British-style scones; 'Tongin Sweet,' famous for egg tarts; and handmade yanggaeng specialty 'Geumokdang' also opened. The food court 'Food Truck Piazza' with eight food trucks in the center was packed with office workers coming for lunch.

The Hyundai Seoul Food Section and the 'Food Truck Piazza' inside 'Tasty Seoul' view.

◆Early days focus on shopping, leisure, and culture rather than 'Big 3 luxury brands'

Although about 30 overseas fashion and luxury brand stores opened on the first floor, the so-called 'Big 3 luxury brands'?Herm?s, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton?did not open stores. A Hyundai Department Store official said, "We are currently negotiating with many famous luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton," adding, "It is rare for many to open at once from the opening day, so we plan to continuously add luxury brands after the opening."

Instead, The Hyundai Seoul aims to secure competitiveness through space design and store composition centered on the keywords 'boldness' and 'innovation.' It arranged about 600 well-known domestic and international brands in a 'curation' style to enhance shopping convenience. The 2nd floor, with the concept of 'Modern Mood,' houses overseas contemporary clothing stores and a luxury shoe specialty hall. The British premium spa brand 'Bamford' and Italian barbershop 'Babenoris' opened for the first time in the Korean distribution industry. The 3rd floor, named 'About Fashion,' features women's and men's fashion brands and a curated shoe and accessories specialty hall, while the 4th floor, themed 'Life & Balance,' includes living brands such as furniture and bedding, as well as outdoor and golf stores.

◆In the With-Corona era, robots and others manage safety

In the With-Corona era, safety was also carefully considered. At all seven external entrances, large multi-recognition fever checkers used in airports were installed to check the temperature of multiple people entering simultaneously and display it on a large screen for safe entry. Portable thermal cameras and facial recognition fever checkers were also installed at three vehicle entrances and basement entrances. Air sterilizers were separately installed in major facilities to strengthen air circulation inside the store.

On the first floor, one guide robot and one safety management robot were undergoing test operation ahead of the grand opening on the 26th. The safety management robot patrols and identifies customers not wearing masks or those with detected fever and sends information to the control center. Additionally, contactless reservation services were introduced, such as using the Hyundai Food Hall To Home mobile app to reserve at the 6th-floor specialty restaurant area without visiting in person, and a smart valet service that allows customers to reserve exit and check parking spots without visiting the valet desk.