Victorious Shinsegae Duty Free unveils bold vision for new Central City store

Buoyed by yesterday’s success in the dramatic contest for three new downtown duty free licences in Seoul, Shinsegae Duty Free today outlined ambitious plans for its new 13,350sq m store in Central City in the Seoch-gu area of Gangnam.

As reported globally by The Moodie Davitt Report within minutes of the Korea Customs Service announcement, Shinsegae Duty Free won one of the three five-year licences on offer, along with Lotte Duty Free (gaining a welcome return to its Lotte World Tower store) and sector newcomer Hyundai Department Store. SK Networks (WalkerHill Duty Free) and HDC Shilla (Shilla IPark duty free) missed out.

Central City is Korea’s largest multi-cultural leisure and entertainment space, featuring the Shinsegae Department Store, a hotel, restaurants, cinema and book stores, all offering what the retailer called a “seamless, one-stop shopping experience”.

Shinsegae Duty Free CEO Young-mok Sung said: “With the opening of the Central City outlet, Shinsegae Duty Free will be able to provide foreign tourists with unique experiences and contents, including gourmet, shopping, culture and lifestyle offers through various tourism programs and infrastructure.”

He pledged that Shinsegae Duty Free will promote and develop Korean tourism through free independent travellers (FIT) and strive to “catch the hearts” of foreign tourists.

Shinsegae Duty Free said it will foster tourism in the southern Seoul area by integrating its general retail and duty free operations.

The department store and – increasingly over recent years – duty free powerhouse announced that it would invest KW350 billion (US$295 million) over the next five years to improve and promote tourism and shopping infrastructure in the Seocho and Gangnam area surrounding Central City.

The investment plan features several ambitious developments, including the creation of a 4.6km long ‘Arts Street’ connecting tourist attractions such as the Seoul Arts Center and Sebitseom (a cultural complex on the Han River that consists of three artificial islands).

Shinsegae also intends to improve the walkways of the popular musical instrument village and develop a guide map for it. Additionally, the company will create a pedestrian walkway within the popular Seoripul Park’s multicultural spaces.

The company said it will also drive local tourism by creating Hallyu [Korean wave] cultural clusters and building a Korea Tourism Promotion Center to provide national tourism information.

In line with these plans, Shinsegae Duty Free plans to develop various tourism programmes, including a ‘Premium Gourmet Festival’ that will offer premium restaurant dining experiences at reasonable prices.

A ‘Medical Tour’ programme will promote the country’s important medical tourism sector, offering consultation and interpretation services, supported by a local tour offer called ‘Korea from end to end’.

CENTRAL CITY – A ONE-STOP SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

Shinsegae Duty Free said it selected Central City as the best location for the new store in order to champion local tourism, diversify the travel offer and attract more FIT visitors.

According to a 2015 survey by Korea Tourism Organization, the number of foreign tourists visiting the area around Central City has increased by +19% annually since 2012. FITs made up 88.6 % of the 2015 total – some 21 percentage points higher than the number of independent travellers visiting Seoul (67.7%).

Many Chinese independent travellers do not see a Seoul trip as complete without visiting the Seocho and Gangnam areas, Shinsegae said.

That local popularity has been reflected at Shinsegae Gangnam Department Store (which completed a renewal and expansion in August), where sales to Chinese tourists have increased by almost +200% this year over 2015.

Underlining Shinsegae’s description of a “one-stop shopping experience”, Central City is conveniently connected to major public transportation links within Seoul and nation-wide.

The area boasts 33 city bus and express bus services, as well as the Express Bus Terminal subway station. Gyeongbu and Honam Express Bus Terminal, Seoul’s largest transportation infrastructure used by 40 million people annually, is also located in Central City.

Shinsegae Duty Free has secured parking spaces that can accommodate 3,600 vehicles and 59 buses. Bus stops will be connected directly to the duty free store to provide maximum shopper convenience.

Major cultural and art spaces are concentrated around Central City, including over 50 eco-friendly travel spots. The area is the centre of the MICE [meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions] industry and holds around 20 local community festivals annually.

Additionally, major tourism spots such as Seorae Village, Apgujeong-dong and Itaewon can be easily reached, while various cultural, dining, beauty and medical facilities are also concentrated in the area.

Shinsegae Duty Free has pledged to promote tourism by signing partnerships with major organisations in Seocho and Gangnam, including Seocho-Gu Office [the local Mayor’s office], Seoul Arts Center, Catholic Sung-Mo hospital and leading restaurants.

In its proposal to Korea Customs Service, Shinsegae Duty Free forecast that if its new duty free outlet attracts some 8.3 million tourists – representing a +88% boost in visitors to the area over 2015 – tourism spend would be boosted by KW7.5 trillion (US$632 million) over the next five years.

HELPING KOREA’S SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

Shinsegae Duty Free has pledged to champion small-to-medium sized (SMEs) producers. It will dedicate 39% of its store to SME wares and introduce various related brands and concepts which retain Shinsegae’s ‘DNA’ such as the ‘Shinsegae Gift Shop’.

The retailer will also open a store for new designers’ brands to identify and promote new talent and support local creators.
Shinsegae Duty Free emphasised that it honoured similar cultural and tourism pledges it made as part of the company’s 2015 bid for its inaugural Seoul downtown licence.

For example, it opened a Hallyu cultural performance theatre called ‘Boys24 Hall’ in September and ‘Han Soo’, a craftsmanship section, in December.

As revealed by The Moodie Davitt Report, Fountain Square improvement work and the promised Namdaemun Market revitalisation are also well underway as long-term project. Additionally, a Design Innovation Center, which discovers talented new designers and provides job opportunities, is scheduled to open in the first half of 2017.