Shinsegae Centum close to hitting new revenue milestone

[Courtesy of Shinsegae Centum City]

Shinsegae Centum City has gained huge attention with its pop-up store featuring the intellectual property (IP) of the popular webtoon ‘Maru is a puppy.’ The pop-up, which will run for two weeks starting from November 10, attracted 11,000 visitors in its first three days to average over 3,000 visitors daily.

The department store introduced 322 products, including key rings featuring characters from the webtoon, MBTI cards, and other merchandise. ‘Maru is a Puppy’ depicts the story of Woori and his dog Maru, exploring events that unfold after Maru becomes a 5-year-old child. The webtoon has gained significant popularity among the younger audience.

According to sources on Monday, Shinsegae Centum City, which previously focused on neighborhood consumption, is now actively engaging the MZ (Millennials and Generation Z) generation with stores tailored to attract young out-of-town visitors. The number of visitors to the department store until October 2023 was 25 million, up 5.7 percent from last year, and the store is expected to rake in a revenue of 2 trillion won this year.

Notably, the proportion of out-of-town visitors at Centum City hit 57.1 percent as of October, surpassing Shinsegae Daegu and making it the store with the highest percentage of out-of-town visitors for the first time in seven years. Specifically, the percentage for Shinsegae Daegu was 56.8 percent, that for Shinsegae Daejeon 55.8 percent, and Shinsegae Gangnam 51 percent.

The increase in out-of-town visitors can be attributed to Shinsegae Centum City’s focus on Hyper Ground, a specialty section for MZ generation fashion. Since reopening in February 2023 as an 8,926 square meter specialty store, Hyper Ground’s sales have increased by 85.3 percent compared to a year ago as of November 7. During the same period, visits from customers in their 20s increased by 53.6 percent, and those in their 30s also increased by 54.1 percent.

Shinsegae Centum City has also seen a whopping 507 percent increase in sales among foreigners this year, a remarkable growth even considering the underlying effects of the Covid-19 pandemic-endemic transition. The consumption by foreign visitors at Hyper Ground increased by 591 percent, contributing significantly to this growth. The brands available at Hyper Ground are relatively unfamiliar to foreigners, showcasing a growing trend of international consumers choosing to experience and consume Korean fashion.

The Centum City store generated 1.84 trillion won in sales last year, ranking fourth in the country among the 70 stores of Korea’s five major department stores operated by Lotte, Shinsegae, Hyundai, Galleria, and AK.

Among the 70 stores, only Shinsegae Gangnam and Lotte Jamsil exceeded 2 trillion won in annual sales. If Shinsegae Centum City achieves a sales record of 2 trillion won, it will make history as the first regional store to achieve this milestone.