Why 200,000 People Visited the Sneakers Store on a Used Goods Trading Platform

Bungaejangter 'Beugeujeuteu Lab' Stores 1 and 2 Reach 220,000 Cumulative Visitors

Beoguzteu Lab The Hyundai Seoul Branch

Upon entering the store, 12 podiums immediately catch the eye. The products displayed on them are sneakers, but not just ordinary athletic shoes. These are sneakers that are either out of stock domestically or limited editions that are hard to obtain, carefully showcased on the podiums. Turning your gaze, the wall is filled with 216 pairs of sneakers, all limited edition. This place is ‘BGZT Lab’ located in The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul. This offline store, set up by the secondhand trading platform Bungaejangter, has emerged as a hotspot for the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), attracting over 170,000 visitors in less than a year since its opening.

According to Bungaejangter on the 19th, the limited edition sneaker store BGZT Lab, including its first branch and the second branch in COEX Mall, has recorded a cumulative visitor count of 220,000 as of last month. The BGZT Lab at The Hyundai Seoul, which opened in February last year, attracted 170,000 visitors, and the COEX Mall branch, which opened in October, saw 50,000 visitors within three months.

The first BGZT Lab branch is themed around ‘limited edition sneakers.’ To showcase sneakers with collectible value, Bungaejangter formed a purchasing team to prepare the products. Here, you can find rare sneakers such as the ‘Nike Dunk SB Low Staple NYC Pigeon.’ This shoe, a collaboration between Nike and New York designer Jeff Staple in 2005, was produced in only 150 pairs and sold for $200, but its current resale price reaches 70 million KRW.

Beoguzeuteu Rap COEX Mall Branch

The second branch is themed around Nike’s ‘Jordan 1,’ which sneaker enthusiasts are passionate about. Bungaejangter explained that this is to commemorate the culture by paying homage to Michael Jordan, the starting point of the sneaker craze. Exhibited are items such as the ‘Jordan 1 High 2013’ with Michael Jordan’s autograph, the ‘Jordan 1 OG Chicago 1985,’ considered the origin of Jordan 1, and designer Virgil Abloh’s ‘Off-White Chicago Jordan 1.’ The selling price of the ‘Jordan 1 OG Chicago 1985’ reaches 55 million KRW.

The reason Bungaejangter established offline sneaker stores is due to the rapid increase in transactions of this category. Last year, the sneaker transaction volume on Bungaejangter reached 71.5 billion KRW by September, with limited edition sneakers alone accounting for 46.1 billion KRW in transaction value.

Bungaejangter plans to demonstrate expertise and strengthen communication with customers through offline spaces focused on single categories beyond sneakers. First, they opened ‘BGZT Collection’ last November, themed around luxury goods. This reflects that the luxury category on Bungaejangter recorded a monthly transaction volume of 13.4 billion KRW last year, accounting for over 10% of total transactions. Located in The Shops at Centerfield in Yeoksam, this store was bustling with crowds, recording an average of about 200 visitors per day as of December.

A Bungaejangter representative said, "We wanted to showcase the expanded concept of secondhand trading, evolving into taste-based trading and value consumption, through offline spaces," adding, "Rather than prioritizing profit generation, this space is intended to display Bungaejangter’s identity and culture."