MZ Generation's Favorite... Shinsegae Department Store Becomes a '2030 Playground'

Gyeonggi Branch 'Playground'
Filled with 40 Popular MZ Brands
70% Increase in 2030 Visitors One Month After Opening
Sales Also Up 30%

W Concept Offline Store Popularity
Over 30% Excess Sales Achieved
2030 Customer Visits Doubled
O4O Strategy Deemed Successful

The 'Playground' street fashion specialty store at Shinsegae Department Store Gyeonggi Branch.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Shinsegae Department Store Gyeonggi Branch, which underwent a renewal targeting the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), is becoming a "playground for the 2030s."

According to the distribution industry on the 16th, after opening the 4th-floor street fashion specialty hall "Playground," the average daily visits of customers in their 20s and 30s to that floor increased by 70% compared to the previous month. During the same period, sales increased by 30%. As interest in emerging brands with distinctive materials and designs has risen mainly among the MZ generation recently, the strategy of targeting customers in their 20s and 30s, who have emerged as core customers through spaces where they can experience these clothes, is evaluated to have worked.

Playground is a young fashion specialty hall of about 4,959㎡ (approximately 1,500 pyeong) on the 4th floor, gathering about 40 brands that the MZ generation is enthusiastic about. Starting from the end of February, it opened sequentially with about 20 brands such as Thisisneverthat, Covernat, and Comgen introduced first, and last month’s renewal saw the opening of Marithe Francois Girbaud, LEE, Polo Denim, and others. The exposed ceiling showing air conditioners and air ducts creates an atmosphere similar to Yeonnam-dong in Seoul, enhancing openness.

The department store explained that the number of teenage customers has noticeably increased due to the large number of emerging designer brands and the neat shopping space configuration through the renewal. Customers are highly satisfied because they can try on and purchase popular items from online offline. A department store official said, "There is a significant effect of attracting family customers visiting with teenagers," adding, "Due to high accessibility from nearby cities such as Pangyo and Bundang, many customers come from other regions as well."

Earlier in March, the W Concept offline store, which was the first in the industry to open, is also very popular. This store has achieved sales exceeding the initial plan by more than 30%. Within one month of opening, it ranked among the top 3 in sales in the young casual genre at the Gyeonggi branch. The number of customers in their 20s and 30s visiting also doubled. W Concept opened a formal store based on meaningful results such as recording more than twice the sales target during the Gangnam branch pop-up store in October last year. Utilizing Shinsegae Group’s infrastructure, it implemented the "O4O (Online for Offline)" strategy connecting online and offline, achieving success.

The Gyeonggi branch sequentially renewed the sports specialty hall in 2020, followed by the lifestyle specialty hall, food specialty hall, and luxury hall last year. Last month, with the completion of the street fashion specialty hall, the renewal was finalized, and efforts began to expand MZ generation customers who have emerged as potential VIP customers of the department store. The luxury hall, introduced for the first time in the industry on the basement 1st floor, attracted younger customers by newly bringing in brands such as Marni, Max Mara, Maison Margiela, Mulberry, and Loewe. The proportion of customers in their 20s and 30s increased by about 30% compared to November 2020, when the renewal began.