Hyundai Department Store Pangyo opens fashion hall to lure young customers

Overseas fashion hall for foreign contemporary brands on the second floor in Hyundai Department Store Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province [Photo provided by Hyundai Department Store]

Hyundai Department Store Co., one of the three major department store chains in South Korea, is planning to significantly increase the number of overseas contemporary brands at its outlet outside Seoul to attract young consumers working around the area.

Hyundai Department Store said its branch in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province has completed its nine-month-long renovation and will introduce an overseas fashion hall for foreign contemporary brands on the second floor. With the opening of this hall, the Pangyo branch has a complete lineup of overseas luxury brands along with its high-end goods on the first floor, including Hermes and Louis Vuitton.

Pangyo has a total of 75 luxury brands, an increase of 40 percent from March last year. It is the largest department store in Gyeonggi Province and is equivalent to Apgujeong Main Store with 76 brands, and Trade Center Store with 82 brands, which are both in the affluent Gangnam district in southern Seoul. Its 2,479 square-meter overseas fashion hall boasts brands preferred by young generations in their 20s and 30s.

Overseas contemporary brands are called new luxury in the industry as they are special and unique in quality and design while being cheaper than luxury brands. Christian Louboutin, one of the brands that opened in Pangyo, is a 160-year-old French high-end shoe brand loved by celebrities around the world. It is known for its signature red-soled and sky-high heels over 12 centimeters. Its shoes are priced at 1 million won to 2 million won and sneakers at 1.7 million won to 2 million won.

Gabriela Hearst, another brand that opened in the department store, is a luxury apparel and accessories brand launched in the U.S. in 2015 by Gabriela Hearst, creative director of French luxury brand Chloe. The brand promotes sustainable fashion as its core value and its flagship products include the pumpkin-shaped Nina Bag and Demi Bag. British luxury jewelry brand Graff will open in May and brands such as Maison Margiela and Herno will also open during the first half of this year.

Hyundai Department Store has steadily reinforced its luxury marketing directors to target young and high-income office workers in Pangyo Techno Valley, an industrial complex near the Pangyo branch.

“We expect young customers visiting the Pangyo branch to increase significantly as they are actively spending on luxury goods and new luxury products are also gaining popularity among them,” said a Hyundai Department Store official.

In fact, sales of luxury goods at the branch increased by 26.9 percent from January to March 29 this year, despite the overall slump in luxury growth in the department store industry this year. The figure at Pangyo is especially remarkable, compared with the less than 6 percent average growth of luxury goods at Hyundai Department Store’s nationwide branches from January to February this year.

The Pangyo branch plans to expand the influx of younger generations by strengthening its VIP membership programs, Young VIP targeting younger customers in their 20s and 30s and Club Friends for office workers, and introduce shopping discount coupons for major brands and special vouchers for cultural benefits, such as spa, barber shop, CGV movies, Kyobo Bookstore books and cultural center. As of Thursday, the number of members in the office worker membership program stood at 40,000, the highest among all branches of Hyundai Department Store.