'Shopping Heaven' Shinsegae Gangnam Branch... Surpasses 3 Trillion Won in Annual Sales for 2 Consecutive Years

Sales Surpass 3 Trillion Won One Month Earlier Than Last Year
Shinsegae Department Store Cumulative Visitors Reach 60 Million

Sweet Park Attracts New Customers with Haoxin
Foreign Sales Grow 310%... "Landmark Leap"

Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam Branch announced on the 28th that it has surpassed annual sales of 3 trillion won for two consecutive years, following last year. It is understood that the growth in sales was mainly due to increasing foreign tourists and new customers based on a solid base of excellent VIP customers.

This year, Shinsegae Gangnam Branch increased new customers by 25% compared to last year. It is interpreted that the bold renewal investment initiated from the beginning of this year had an impact. Gangnam Branch marked this year as the starting point for a full-scale renewal project of the food hall, sequentially unveiling new spaces such as the dessert specialty hall Sweet Park (February) and House of Shinsegae (June).

Sweet Park, which proclaimed itself as a new-concept dessert theme park, gathered some of the top dessert spots both domestic and international in one place. The cumulative number of visitors over nine months reached 9.5 million. House of Shinsegae attracted customers' attention by introducing 'Wine Cellar,' a collection of rare wines hard to find in Korea, 'Personal Shopper Room' (PSR), the largest VIP facility in Korea, and 'Boondeshop Mezzanine,' a luxury curated shop featuring overseas luxury brands. The large-scale renewal boosted overall sales at Gangnam Branch, with related sales naturally extending to other shopping genres after using these two spaces reaching 70%.

This was also positive for attracting foreign customers. Sweet Park and House of Shinsegae have established themselves as pilgrimage sites for foreign tourists visiting Seoul. Among foreign tourists in their 20s and 30s, who are familiar with social media, Sweet Park and others are known as must-visit courses. Foreign sales at Gangnam Branch increased by 310% compared to the same period last year. Furthermore, it is also evaluated that a sophisticated shopping environment is being provided to high-purchasing-power foreigners visiting the JW Marriott Hotel Seoul, which is connected to the department store.

Expanding experiential content that customers can enjoy also influenced the increase in sales. This year, Gangnam Branch opened an additional exhibition and experiential pop-up zone called 'Open Stage,' utilizing the high ceiling and openness of the Central City first-floor plaza, following the existing pop-up exclusive space 'The Stage.' New content using various intellectual properties (IP) was consecutively introduced, including YouTuber 'Chimchakman' (April), K-POP artist 'Seventeen' (March and October), Hello Kitty 50th anniversary (October), and Arcane Season 2 (November). Thanks to this, the cumulative number of customers visiting Shinsegae Gangnam Branch reached 60 million. This means that every Korean citizen has visited Gangnam Branch at least once. Purchases from outside the metropolitan area also increased by 25% compared to last year.

Strengthening luxury competitiveness was also positive. In June this year, the department store doubled the existing men's luxury floor from about 1,100 pyeong to 2,100 pyeong. The number of luxury men's brands totals 42, the highest among domestic department stores. As a result, Gangnam Branch men's luxury sales grew by 20.8% compared to last year. This is the highest figure in the last four years since COVID-19.

Shinsegae Gangnam Branch plans to accelerate customer inflow by completing the largest food specialty hall in Korea, measuring 6,000 pyeong, next year. The food hall renewal at Gangnam Branch, which started earlier this year with Sweet Park aiming for 'Shinsegae of Gastronomy' where all gourmet experiences available in Korea can be enjoyed, is scheduled to open a food market (supermarket) in March next year, followed by a deli (ready-to-eat food), cafe, and health hall renewal opening in August.

Park Ju-hyung, CEO of Shinsegae Department Store, said, “Gangnam Branch has taken a new leap forward by continuing innovation and investment for super-gap competitiveness, not stopping at the achievement of being the first single store in Korea to reach 3 trillion won in sales,” and added, “We will continue retail innovation to further solidify our position as a global landmark beyond the status of Korea’s number one department store.”