"Full of Charming Tastes"...29CM Opens Its First Offline Accessory Shop [Report]

29CM Opens First Iguhome Store in Seongsu
Non-Fashion Transaction Volume Up 60% Year-on-Year
"No Clear Leader in Domestic Lifestyle Sector"

29CM will officially open the 'Iguhome Seongsu' store on the 20th at Yeonmujang-gil, Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul.
Photo by JaeHyun Park

On the morning of June 18, at the 'Iguhome Seongsu' store on Yeonmujang-gil, Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, the space was filled with charming lifestyle accessories and unique furniture. The first area to catch the eye displayed products from the Greek lifestyle brand 'Iyaya Friends,' which sells tumblers and kitchenware. Also noticeable were the 'Snowman' lighting, a popular item from Ilkwang Jeongu, the only domestic incandescent bulb manufacturer, and products from the French cutlery brand 'SABRE,' which has recorded sales in the hundreds of millions of won on the 29CM fashion platform over the past year.

29CM, the fashion platform operated by Musinsa, will officially open Iguhome Seongsu on June 20. Iguhome is the overall lifestyle category of 29CM, covering home and living. Since January last year, 29CM has classified all non-fashion products under Iguhome.

With the opening of its first offline store, 29CM plans to make a leap as Korea's leading lifestyle platform encompassing non-fashion sectors. The strategy is to expand its business from selling fashion brands targeting women in their 20s and 30s to non-fashion areas such as stationery, beauty, kitchenware, household goods, and home decor.

Incandescent bulb manufacturer Ilkwang Jeongu's 'Snowman' lighting and others are displayed in the 'Living' category zone inside the store.
Photo by Jae Hyun Park

A 29CM representative explained, "While there are famous lifestyle select shops overseas such as The Conran Shop and Tsutaya in Japan, there is still no clear leader in the domestic lifestyle select shop market. Considering the potential for expansion into various regions in the future, we named the store Iguhome Seongsu after the area."

The decision to select 'Seongsu' as the location for the first offline store was due to the high demand for lifestyle-related products in the area. Seongsu has a large population of young customers and an overwhelmingly high proportion of tourists. In particular, lifestyle select shops are characterized by high demand for gifts and popular small items that can be worn or carried immediately on site.

Furniture products from lifestyle brands are displayed inside the 'Iguhome Seongsu' store. They are known as great gift items on the 29CM app.
Photo by JaeHyun Park

The 29CM representative added, "Recently, shop tours of accessory stores have become popular, especially among the younger generation. As of this month, searching for accessory shop tours on Instagram yields more than 60,000 posts. As accessory shop tours have become a cultural trend, there is strong demand from visitors to purchase souvenirs while they are out and about."

The Iguhome Seongsu space is themed as a 'general store of tastes.' The 85-pyeong single-story store is arranged into six category zones: Greeting Lounge, Stationery, Beauty, Kitchen, Living, Home Decor, and Brand Popup Zone, giving visitors the feeling of touring a home. A total of 147 brands and more than 6,000 products are available, with 88% of all participating brands being domestic lifestyle brands.

To celebrate the official opening of the store, from June 20 to June 24, Musinsa Global Site members and 29CM app members will receive a 10% discount on in-store purchases. At the capsule machine lottery event held at the store, prizes such as products sold at Iguhome Seongsu and coupons for partnered local food and beverage (F&B) outlets will be offered.

Meanwhile, the domestic lifestyle market continues to grow steadily. According to Statistics Korea, the domestic home furnishing (living) market grew from 10 trillion won in 2010 to about 20 trillion won last year, nearly doubling in size. Home furnishing includes products such as furniture, lighting, and interior accessories for decorating the home. In the first quarter of this year, the transaction volume for Iguhome, which includes these product categories, grew by more than 60% compared to the previous year.