Configured as a Family Theme Park
Aiming to Strengthen Customer Attraction and Improve Profitability
Expecting Advantage in Complex Shopping Mall Competition
'Time Villas Suwon,' the first complex shopping mall of Lotte Group, is strengthening its kid-focused spaces ahead of its grand opening next month. Although Time Villas Suwon has attracted many family visitors on weekends, it has been criticized for lacking specialized areas for children. With the new kid-focused spaces designed as a family theme park, Time Villas Suwon expects to achieve significant customer attraction effects.
According to the distribution industry on the 18th, Time Villas Suwon plans to introduce the premium dinosaur-themed Trias Family Restaurant and the premium kids theme park Nutty World within the Lotte Mart on the 2nd floor this month. Lotte Mart reportedly removed the existing pop-up spaces and brought in Trias and Nutty World after gathering internal and external feedback about the lack of specialized spaces for children at Time Villas Suwon. A Lotte Mart official stated, "Since Time Villas Suwon has many family customers on weekends, we created a family theme park-style space for the first time in a mart to increase customer inflow."
Time Villas Suwon is a new complex shopping mall launched by Lotte Department Store after renovating the existing Lotte Mall Suwon starting from October last year. It is based on a convergence model that combines the strengths of department stores and shopping malls. During the previous pre-opening, it was highly praised for significantly enhancing premium content through the expansion of global fashion brands and strengthening food and beverage (F&B) stores. With the newly added specialized spaces for children, which had been a weak point, its competitiveness is expected to be further strengthened.
When Time Villas Suwon opened in 2014 under the name Lotte Mall Suwon, it was a space that drew in the surrounding commercial district like a whirlwind. On weekends, the roads around Lotte Mall Suwon were paralyzed by the vehicles visiting the mall. However, with the renovation of the nearby AK Plaza and the emergence of Starfield Suwon, Lotte Mall Suwon experienced a decline in customer attraction and sales. Lotte needed a change, and the result was Time Villas Suwon.
Interior view of the premium dinosaur-themed Trias Family Restaurant located on the 2nd floor of Lotte Mart in Time Villas Suwon. [Photo by Lotte Mart]
The effects of the renovation at Time Villas Suwon are already reflected in the numbers. Overall sales reportedly nearly doubled compared to before the renovation. In particular, the sports and kids product categories were revamped to become the largest in the surrounding commercial district, resulting in an 80% increase in sales from customers in their 20s and 30s compared to before. Additionally, the food hall 'Dining Avenue,' which was carefully prepared during the pre-opening, reportedly attracted over 200,000 visitors last month.
Competition among major distribution companies in the complex shopping mall sector has intensified. Complex shopping malls are gaining popularity due to their experiential content that differentiates them from e-commerce, and their competitiveness lies in offering products at various price points amid prolonged economic downturns. Recently, all major distribution companies have entered this field. Shinsegae Group was the first to launch the complex shopping mall brand 'Starfield' in September 2016, and Lotte publicly introduced Time Villas through a pre-opening in May. Hyundai Department Store plans to close its Busan branch by the 7th, undergo a two-month renovation, and reopen it as an urban complex mall called 'Connect Hyundai.'
Lotte plans to complete the ongoing partial renovation of Time Villas Suwon and hold the grand opening next month. Furthermore, based on Time Villas Suwon, Lotte intends to expand Time Villas to Daegu, Songdo, Uiwang, and other locations. At the pre-opening of Time Villas Suwon, Jung Junho, CEO of Lotte Department Store, stated, "We plan to expand the shopping mall by utilizing many of Lotte's assets."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
