"Just a Moment Goodbye"... Lotte Department Store's 'Young Plaza' Renewed as Global 'Gen Z' Playground

Full-scale Renovation to Begin Next Month
Plans for Global Youth-focused K-Content Specialty Hall Under Review
Aiming to Complete 'Lotte Town Myeongdong,' Gangbuk's Landmark, by End of 2027

Lotte Department Store announced on the 18th that it will begin a full renovation of the Young Plaza at its main store with the goal of completing 'Lotte Town Myeongdong.' Operations will cease and store clearing will be completed by the 31st of this month, with construction set to begin in earnest next month.

Lotte Department Store Main Branch 'Young Plaza' Exterior. Provided by Lotte Department Store.

Young Plaza is a store that Lotte Department Store acquired in 2002, formerly known as ‘Midopa Department Store (Metro Midopa branch),’ and reopened the following year under the new brand name ‘Young Plaza.’ At the time of its opening, it attracted significant attention as a new concept store specializing in fashion categories targeting young customers. Since then, Young Plaza has maintained its ‘young’ concept while evolving with the times by continuously introducing global SPA (specialty retailer of private label apparel) brands, online-based fashion brands, and intellectual property (IP) content. Thanks especially to its location directly facing Myeongdong, which has maintained its status as Seoul’s premier ‘shopping street’ for decades, it has become a popular destination for young customers from around the world.

Lotte Department Store plans to leverage Young Plaza’s locational advantages while exploring various ways to create synergy with the main building and AvenueL building of the main store. They are considering establishing a ‘K-Content’ specialty hall that encompasses fashion, food and beverage (F&B), and art to attract global Gen Z customers (late teens to mid-20s), capitalizing on the strengths of the commercial district. Multiple strategies are being examined to enhance the competitiveness of ‘Lotte Town Myeongdong.’

Lotte Town Myeongdong aims to develop the commercial area around the main store into the premier shopping, tourism, and cultural district in Gangbuk. To this end, Lotte Department Store is focusing on enhancing the competitiveness of the main store through renovations. Following the creation of a premium living hall on the 8th floor in 2019, a major renovation began in 2021. The men’s overseas fashion hall (5F), women’s fashion hall (2nd to 4th floors), food hall (B1F), beauty hall (B1F), sports & leisure hall (7F), and kids’ hall (7F) were opened sequentially.

In 2021 and last year, the basement level 1 was renovated twice to unveil the largest beauty hall among domestic department stores. The recently opened sports & leisure hall has also established itself as the largest sports sanctuary in the Gangbuk commercial district, catering to both domestic and foreign customers. In the second half of this year, a K-fashion specialty hall focused on emerging designers, ‘Kinetic Ground (9F),’ is scheduled to open. The AvenueL building of the main store is also preparing for renovation.

Kim Jong-hwan, head of Lotte Department Store’s main store, stated, “Please look forward to ‘Lotte Town Myeongdong,’ which will become the premier shopping, tourism, and cultural district in Gangbuk by the end of 2027.”