Coway Strengthens Experience Stores, Opens 3 Locations This Month

Accelerating Expansion of Experiential Offline Stores
Now Reaching Gangwon-do with New Location in Wonju

Coway is accelerating the expansion of offline stores where customers can directly experience products. Including the opening of a new store in Gangwon-do, a region where it has not yet entered, Coway will open three large-scale directly operated stores this month alone. With stores established in the metropolitan area and key regional hubs, it is being evaluated that a nationwide offline sales network is being built. This is due to the growth of the sleep and healing care brand 'BEREX', and the strategy to expand consumer touchpoints through experiential stores is expected to continue this year.

On the 6th, Coway announced that it will consecutively open Coway Galleries, directly operated brand experience and sales stores, in Dalseo-gu, Daegu, Gimhae, and Wonju this month. First, on the 1st, it opened the second directly operated store in Daegu Dalseo. Then, on the 7th, a directly operated store will be established on the 4th floor of Shinsegae Department Store in Gimhae, Gyeongnam. On the 14th, a directly operated store is scheduled to open at AK Plaza in Wonju. With three experiential stores opening in March alone, Coway’s directly operated offline stores will increase to 22 nationwide.

Virex products are displayed at Coway's brand experience store "Busan Gwangbok Direct Store," which opened last year. Photo by Coway

In particular, the store opening on the 6th floor of AK Plaza Wonju is Coway’s first directly operated store in Gangwon-do. Coway first opened an experiential offline store in Gangnam at the end of 2021, showcasing mattress products that meet experiential needs. Since then, it has expanded its offline sales network nationwide by opening 2 stores in 2022, 7 in 2023, and 9 last year. With this entry into Gangwon-do, Coway products can now be easily experienced anywhere nationwide except Jeju Island. AK Plaza Wonju is also the fifth department store location following Shinsegae Department Store Cheonan Asan, Masan, Lotte Department Store Gwangbok, and the Shinsegae Department Store Gimhae store scheduled to open earlier this month. Coway explained that it is expanding department store entries because customers can enjoy not only product experiences but also various shopping and cultural activities.

This expansion strategy of Coway’s offline experiential stores is closely linked to the growth of BEREX. While existing products such as water purifiers and air purifiers were mainly sold through the ‘Codi’ organization, experiential offline stores are considered effective for BEREX products like mattresses and massage chairs, which require customers to lie down or sit to understand the product. The experiential stores are designed to allow customers to directly experience and purchase BEREX new products as well as existing bestsellers such as the Icon ice water purifier and BEREX Pebble Chair.

In particular, the fact that BEREX has been driving Coway’s recent growth has been the driving force behind the increased investment in experiential stores. Since the launch of BEREX, Coway’s rental accounts increased from 9.1 million in 2022 to 10.9 million at the end of last year, and annual sales surpassed 4 trillion won for the first time. A Coway official said, "Riding on the growth of BEREX, we plan to actively increase offline experiential stores and expand customer touchpoints this year as well. We will expand new stores to Gangwon-do and ensure that Coway products can be easily found in all regions nationwide."