[Report] "Weekend Waiting Time 1 Hour"... Lotte World’s 'Belligom's House' Gains Popularity

Lotte Home Shopping Opens Lotte World Adventure Experience Facility
First Character Experience Facility in Retail Industry
Over 2,000 Visitors Within a Week of Opening... 1-Hour Weekend Waits
Exclusive Goods Sold at Merchandise Shop... Sales Reach 20 Million KRW

"Let's go find the missing Bellygom."

On the morning of the 21st, before opening, we visited Lotte World Adventure in Jamsil. Next to the main stage where parades and performances take place, a pink-decorated house shaped like a bear caught our eye. It was the newly opened 'Bellygom Mystery Mansion' this month. This is a space where visitors can directly meet and experience Bellygom offline.

Bellygom is a pink bear character introduced by Lotte Homeshopping in 2018. Started from an employee's idea, Bellygom was created based on the worldview of "a bear that brings laughter to everyday life." Videos with a hidden camera concept, surprising citizens approaching Bellygom on platforms like YouTube and Instagram, gained popularity, and now the character has a social media fandom of over 1.7 million followers. Offline, Bellygom also meets citizens through events such as "Amazing Bellygom" and "Bellygom Dance Party."

'Bellygom Mystery Mansion' set up at Lotte World Adventure in Jamsil, Songpa-gu, Seoul.
Photo by Lee Myunghwan

On the 13th, Lotte Homeshopping opened the 'Bellygom Mystery Mansion,' an experiential facility utilizing the intellectual property (IP) of the popular character Bellygom, on the first floor of Lotte World Adventure in Jamsil, Songpa-gu, Seoul. Designed with the concept of Bellygom's house, this space allows visitors to see and touch Bellygom, who was previously only accessible via social media. Specifically, the 200㎡ (about 60 pyeong) space includes six experiential zones: ▲Detective's Hideout ▲Path to Bellygom's House ▲Kitchen ▲Hallway ▲Bedroom ▲Goods Shop.

Lotte Homeshopping explained that this is the first time in the distribution industry that a theme park experiential facility has been opened based on a character. Furthermore, this is the first permanent experiential facility themed around Bellygom. Previously, popup stores or short-term experiential facilities themed on Bellygom had been held, but all were temporary.

The Bellygom Mystery Mansion is designed around the story of searching for the suddenly disappeared Bellygom. Like an escape room game, visitors solve hidden puzzles in each space to move on to the next location. In the first space upon entry, a news video about Bellygom's disappearance plays, and visitors are given specially made magnifying glasses. When these magnifiers are held up to Bellygom's footprints scattered throughout the space, interactive videos play or hints to proceed to the next location are provided. Surprising effects to startle visitors are also hidden throughout.

The bedroom, the mansion's final location, was the highlight of the experience that day. The real Bellygom, hidden in the bedroom space, suddenly appeared and surprised visitors just like in the YouTube videos. Visitors were startled but greeted the familiar figure. Taking commemorative photos with Bellygom was freely allowed, and even during photo sessions, Bellygom played pranks on visitors, just like in the video content.

A special magnifying glass provided to visitors at Bellygom Mystery Mansion.
Photo by Lee Myunghwan

Interior view of Bellygom Mystery Mansion. The space themed around Bellygom's bedroom (top) and the goods store you can visit after the experience (bottom).
[Photo by Lee Myunghwan]

The last course is the goods shop. This place sells exclusive products not seen in previous Bellygom popup stores. From bracelets, headbands, and toy cameras suitable for theme park use to about 30 Lotte World exclusive items such as 'Flume Ride Figures' and 'School Uniform Bellygom Keyrings' are on sale. Goods featuring both Bellygom and Lotte World characters 'Roti' and 'Rori' are also sold only here.

Although a week has passed since opening, the Bellygom Mystery Mansion is doing well. From the 13th to the 18th, including the first weekend after opening, about 2,000 visitors came. Due to the influx of customers, waiting times exceeding one hour occurred after opening. Families make up more than 70% of visitors, and the facility is also popular among foreigners and young customers. The goods shop's new items such as Bellygom headbands, bracelets, and bags, which are suitable for wearing in the theme park, are especially popular among young customers, with cumulative sales exceeding 20 million KRW within a week.

Lotte Homeshopping put special effort into the composition of this first permanent Bellygom experiential facility. Lotte Homeshopping employees, all from the MZ generation (Millennials + Gen Z), participated in planning the theme, layout, and storyline of the space, which took over a year to plan and design. During this process, they referred to famous overseas theme parks such as Disneyland and Universal Studios. The construction was handled by 'Glow Seoul,' a space solution company that also worked on the Ikseon-dong village project.

The real appearance of Bellygom that appears at the end of Bellygom Mystery Mansion.
Photo by Lee Myunghwan

The Bellygom Mystery Mansion is expected to serve as a bridge between content and space. At the site, Lee Bo-hyun, head of Lotte Homeshopping's content division (executive director), said to reporters, "Since 2022, we have set up popup stores in offline spaces, but sustainability was a concern," adding, "This is a unique attempt to create a flagship concept space combined with products."

Lotte Homeshopping plans to accelerate the overseas expansion of the Bellygom IP based on this Bellygom Mystery Mansion. Lee said, "In the second half of this year, we expect to gradually expand master licenses to several Asian countries including China, as well as the Middle East and Europe," adding, "There is high interest in Bellygom attractions overseas, so we might be able to introduce similar experiential facilities abroad as early as the second half of next year." Previously, in November last year, Lotte Homeshopping showcased a Bellygom popup store at Siam Discovery, a famous shopping mall in Thailand.

However, the Bellygom Mystery Mansion has a limitation in that it cannot be experienced with just an admission ticket or unlimited pass. Even with facility usage tickets like the unlimited pass for Lotte World Adventure, visitors must pay an additional fee (5,000 KRW) at a kiosk near the entrance to enter. Regarding this, a Lotte Homeshopping official explained, "Unlike general attractions (rides) inside the park, this is a paid experiential facility," adding, "We focused on providing customers with a unique experience to meet the real Bellygom and take commemorative photos."