Hanssem Design Park Expands by 4 Locations... Additional Large Showrooms to Open This Year
Hyundai Livart Also Expands Large Stores... "Exhibition and Marketing Maximized Experience Spaces"
IKEA Korea Considering New Stores in Chungcheong, Gyeongbuk, and Jeolla
Ace Bed Opens 5 New Ace Square Locations This Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Despite the establishment of untact (non-face-to-face) shopping trends in the furniture market due to COVID-19, major furniture companies are steadily increasing their offline stores, drawing attention to the reasons behind this.
According to the industry on the 6th, as the home interior market continues to grow, furniture companies such as Hanssem and Hyundai Livart are actively targeting the market by providing urban offline stores as spaces for consumers to acquire home interior ideas and experience them.
Hanssem, which expects to achieve annual sales of 2 trillion won for two consecutive years, is expanding new stores in the form of entering department stores or marts. This year, Hanssem has opened stores at Lotte Mart Busan Gwangbok Branch, Lotte Department Store Bucheon Jungdong Branch and Ulsan Branch, and Lotte Mall Dongbusan Branch.
These stores are large urban total home interior stores where remodeling, kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, and household goods can be experienced and purchased in one place. The 'Hanssem Design Park Lotte Maison Dongbusan Branch,' opened in June at Osiria Theme Park in Gijang-gun, Busan, has a sales area of 2,960㎡ on the first and second floors and is the largest among the 38 domestic and international furniture and home appliance brand stores in this department store.
Hanssem increased the number of Design Park stores from 15 in December last year to 19 as of September. Design Parks are large stores ranging from 3,305 to 6,611㎡ (1,000 to 2,000 pyeong) that offer all items handled by Hanssem, including home furniture, remodeling, and household goods. During the same period, the number of large Rehouse showrooms, where all remodeling-related products such as kitchens, bathrooms, storage, flooring, windows, and lighting can be found, increased from 26 to 32.
Hanssem, which operates about 630 dealerships nationwide, plans to open additional large Rehouse showrooms in Seoul and Daegu in the second half of this year. A Hanssem official said, "This year, we opened stores mainly in department stores, specialty malls, and marts to expand customer contact points," adding, "As demand from young people seeking interior ideas at home interior stores increases, the importance of offline stores is gradually rising."
Total interior showroom 'Livart Gimpo Branch' opened on the 4th floor of the Lifestyle Hall at Hyundai Premium Outlet Gimpo. [Photo by Hyundai Livart]
Hyundai Livart is expanding large direct stores, including opening the largest 'Livart Mia Branch' among living brand stores in Hyundai Department Stores nationwide in February. It is also notable that new direct stores, where products are sold directly at exhibition halls, have increased mainly in local areas such as Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam, Jeju, Daejeon, Chungcheong, Gwangju, and Jeonnam.
The number of large direct stores has been increasing annually: 13 in the first half of 2019, 27 in the first half of 2020, and 33 in the first half of 2021. Hyundai Livart operates a total of 109 offline stores as of the first half of this year, including dealerships, direct stores, and stores in large marts.
A Hyundai Livart official explained, "Large direct stores are important hubs that can maximize marketing effects along with exhibition effects," adding, "We are opening new stores mainly in underserved commercial areas to strengthen the B2C furniture business."
IKEA Korea is strengthening its urban small stores. IKEA Korea opened the urban store IKEA Planning Studio Cheonho in April last year, followed by IKEA Planning Studio Sindorim in August and the sustainability experience pop-up IKEA Lab in November of the same year.
They are also considering expanding large stores. IKEA Korea, which has operated large stores in Gwangmyeong since 2014, as well as in Goyang, Giheung, and Dongbusan, is reconsidering the opening of the postponed 5th domestic store in Gyeryong and additional openings in the Chungcheong area. Fredrik Johansson, CEO of IKEA Korea, said at an online press conference on the 26th of last month, "We are considering surrounding facilities and locations, and do not think it necessarily has to be a large store," adding, "We are also paying attention to regions such as Chungcheong, Gyeongbuk, and Jeolla where IKEA has not yet entered."
Ace Bed, the number one in the bed industry, has newly opened five Ace Square stores this year alone, operating 31 stores nationwide, and plans to open one more in the Jeolla region within the year. They operate a total of 233 stores, including five directly managed Ace Avenue stores, 75 department store stores, and 122 dealerships, with plans to open 4 to 5 more stores next year.
An Ace Bed official said, "Following CEO An Seong-ho's management philosophy that 'beds must be directly experienced before purchase,' we are increasing regional hub stores nationwide to enhance consumer experience and convenience," adding, "Curating experts are stationed at stores to help customers select beds or furniture tailored to their body shape and sleeping habits."
Industry insiders said, "Among the younger generation, offline stores are increasingly recognized as spaces for play and experience, while online is seen as a space to share experiences and make actual purchases," adding, "Although opening large stores is costly, companies are strengthening both online and offline channels."
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