Department Stores to Simultaneously Light Christmas Decorations Next Month... Concepts of Each Company

Heat Fades, Christmas Preparations... Early to Mid-November Reveal
Warm Fairy Tale Village and Spectacular Media Facade Coexist
Year-End Shopping Season and Endemic Foreign Visitors... Symbolism Increases

As the late summer heat subsided, the department store industry has begun preparations for the Christmas season. After the long Chuseok and Hangul Day holidays passed and the autumn heat faded with cool breezes starting to blow, department stores are already gearing up for the big winter event, Christmas.

Visual merchandising (VM) themed around Christmas is an incentive that draws consumers during the year-end spending season and a symbolic event tied to the department stores’ image and pride. Especially since Halloween was removed from the usual autumn-winter major events sequence?autumn sales (regular sales) - Halloween - Christmas?due to an accident last year, the Christmas season has become an even more important event for the department store industry.

Lotte Department Store Main Branch is undergoing Christmas exterior decoration construction behind a partition.
Photo by Kim Yuri.

According to the department store industry on the 16th, the three major department stores?Lotte, Shinsegae, and Hyundai Department Store?are in full swing preparing Christmas decorations on the exterior walls and interiors of their stores, aiming to unveil them in early to mid-next month. Major stores such as Lotte Department Store Main Branch and Shinsegae Department Store Main Branch have already put up barriers outside and started installing facilities.

Lotte Department Store plans to strengthen the analog-sensibility Christmas concept that was successful last year. Last year, they created a 100-meter-long facade at the main branch’s exterior wall, three stories high, decorating the entire facade with Christmas trees and lights, giving the feeling of walking through a Christmas street in a fairy tale. This attracted many visitors who took photos, generating positive responses. This year, they aim to once again become the center of attention with an outdoor display capturing the quaint and warm scenery of a winter village celebrating Christmas.

Shinsegae Department Store is preparing to unveil a more spectacular media facade than last year. In 2021, Shinsegae’s “Magical Christmas” video, displayed through 1.4 million LED chips installed on the main branch’s exterior wall, became a huge sensation on social media, causing traffic jams as crowds gathered to take photos and videos. Last year, to enhance video immersion, they removed the building’s exterior billboards and presented a dazzling video themed around a circus performance, elevating the Christmas atmosphere. This year, they will reveal a media facade with a special story in early to mid-next month.

Hyundai Department Store, which usually unveils its Christmas decorations at the end of October, is currently adjusting the timing this year. Hyundai Department Store has adopted an alleyway concept for this Christmas theme. They plan to exhibit “H Village,” composed of large Christmas trees, alleyway shops, streetlamp lights, and various sculptures at The Hyundai Seoul’s 5th-floor Sounds Forest and the Trade Center branch’s main plaza. This year’s H Village will whimsically recreate a small artisan workshop street, evoking nostalgia for Generation X and offering new experiences for the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z).

The H Village installed at The Hyundai Seoul will be a Christmas village covering 3,300㎡ (about 1,000 pyeong), featuring a 13-meter-tall large Christmas tree, over 120 trees, 16 boutiques and markets symbolizing Hyundai Department Store’s 16 branches, and more than 6,000 lights. Especially this year, the alleyway concept will be emphasized with warm and sentimental touches such as a post office, cake shop, Nutcracker zone, and detailed displays of various shops to enjoy the atmosphere of a cozy alley.

A department store industry insider said, "Despite the high costs, there are many positive aspects such as enhancing the department store’s image, word-of-mouth effects, and additional consumption generation," adding, "This year, it will also be used to attract the significantly increased number of foreign tourists since COVID-19."