Family Participation Courses Popular in Humanities, Science
Real Estate, Edu, and Other Finance, Child Education Fields Also Rising↑
Department store and mart culture centers are changing their colors in line with shifts in consumer trends. They are introducing programs that include activities where parents and children participate together to create shared memories for families, while also diversifying themes by adding recent trends to the interests of target customers, such as 'vegan beauty' and 'beer yoga.'
According to the distribution industry on the 29th, Shinsegae Academy will increase cultural and artistic performance courses using the cultural halls at Daegu Shinsegae and Centum City stores by 50% compared to the previous month starting next month. Representative courses include the classical performance "Pianist Yoon Han's Salon de Cello," featuring world-renowned pianist Yoon Han and cellist Park Gun-woo, and "Yoon Ji-won's Lecture Concert: Artists of Paris," where attendees can enjoy masterpieces by 20th-century painters such as Monet and Manet accompanied by cello and piano performances.
In anticipation of the vacation and holiday season, family participation courses that the whole family can enjoy together will be expanded by more than 60%. Reflecting the increasing investment in children’s education and fashion, Shinsegae Academy newly introduced family participation courses starting from last summer semester. These courses are popular because families can participate in various fields such as musicals and science camps, creating lasting memories together.
Last month, the family participation science camp "Paper Airplane Contest" held at Shinsegae’s Centum City and Daegu Shinsegae cultural halls was fully booked on the day registration opened. Other highly praised representative courses offering special experiences with children include the "Kids Museum Tour," where families can directly see and learn about cultural heritage from different eras at the National Museum of Korea, and "Live Musical" tailored to children’s perspectives for the whole family to enjoy.
Starting in August, Shinsegae will introduce new representative family participation courses such as "The Future Camping Car Our Family Builds," where families engage in hands-on activities to develop ideas about ratios, balance, center of gravity, and the environment; the family musical "Jungle Book"; and the magic show "Kim Min-hyung’s Hilarious Magic Show."
At Daegu Shinsegae, on the 22nd of next month, a concert titled "Jo Jang-hyuk’s LOVE," featuring the singer Jo Jang-hyuk’s representative songs, will be held. At the Centum City store, for customers concerned about their children’s career paths, education experts will be invited to explain changes in school curricula and college admissions through programs such as "How College Admissions Will Change After 2028" and "Discipline Know-How to Motivate Sons."
Hyundai Department Store will offer various unique courses such as art and healing during the fall semester from September to November at the Hyundai Culture Center. Notable courses include a special lecture "BeClean Personal Color," in collaboration with the vegan beauty shop 'BeClean,' introducing makeup methods and beauty tips tailored to individual personal colors, and "Personal Eyewear Design" with Korea’s first-generation eyewear designer Kim Jong-pil. There are also "Jung Young-joo Musical Special Lecture," where participants learn musical music, and "Private Wellness Special Lecture," providing one-on-one customized training by professional instructors in partnership with the global fitness brand 'F45.'
Experiential content involving visits to external attractions will also be strengthened. For example, a collecting tour for 'KIAF·FRIEZE,' scheduled for September, will be organized, including art viewing and docent programs. The company explained that the art docent tours were highly popular, with early closures every session during the spring and summer semesters due to high demand.
Homeplus also reorganized its approximately 60,000 courses offered during the fall semester from September to November to focus on programs targeting MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) customers, who make up most of the enrolled members. In particular, infant and toddler courses for the "young parenting group" have been expanded. It was considered that infants under one year old visit culture centers more frequently than in previous years, and toddlers mainly use culture centers after daycare or kindergarten. Based on an analysis of preferred time slots by infant age, 'Bebe Class' for infants under one year old and 'After School Class' held after 4 p.m. were prepared.
With increased demand for outdoor activities after the endemic phase of infectious diseases, unique courses that the whole family can enjoy together were also planned. The autumn-themed book concert "Book & Story Festival" allows family customers to read fairy tales together and experience programs related to the stories, such as "Cinderella Ballet & Pumpkin Carriage Decoration" and "Building a Strong Brick House for the Three Little Pigs."
There are also collaboration courses with various brands. Reflecting recent trends of 'home drinking' and 'home cooking,' classes such as "Pernod Ricard Korea Highball Cocktail Class" and "Beer Yoga Class with Kelly Beer" were prepared. Participants can also experience "U.S. Meat Export Federation Pork Back Ribs Cooking Class," "Sunjin Pork European Home Cooking Class," and "Hangang Food Chicken Cooking Class." In line with the home caf? trend during the high inflation era, "Home Caf? Coffee Class with Hollys" will be offered at 20 stores.
Due to the recent craze for dance covers and challenges, the number of customers seeking dance classes has increased, leading to courses that appeal to members of various age groups, such as "Dynamic Hip Line Dance," "Shape Up Body Diet Dance," and "Swing Social Dance Together."
Lotte Mart has also prepared a variety of courses for this fall semester, ranging from exercise classes to lectures by notable figures. In particular, evening courses for exercise and hobbies that office workers can enjoy after work have been strengthened. Lotte Mart stated, "Reflecting the requests from office worker students to increase evening special lectures, we expanded the number of courses after 6 p.m. by 20% compared to the previous semester." A representative course is the dance fitness "Fit-Hop" evening class, popular as a stress relief exercise for office workers and quickly filling up every semester. A one-day special lecture on "Healing Detox Exercise," linked with the relaxing bath and body care brand 'Dr. Teals,' is also prepared.
Evening art classes for customers who prefer static hobbies are also available. These include a one-day special lecture "Smile & Ice Cream Acrylic Drawing" in collaboration with the premium drawing kit brand 'Our Canvas,' and a healing art class by Jeong Gwang-in, director of the Sensory Art Research Institute. The number of one-day special lectures by notable figures, which provide nourishment for the mind, has also been increased by 20% compared to the previous semester. The proportion of face-to-face courses was increased by more than 10% to provide more opportunities to meet experts from various fields directly.
Professor Kwon Il-yong, Korea’s first professional profiler, will deliver a special lecture titled "Crimes Threatening Daily Life and Prevention Methods," sharing various knowledge and experiences to protect oneself and family from crime. The mart explained that sudden crimes encountered in daily life are increasing recently, and interest in preventive measures is rising, so the lecture is expected to be very popular.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
