Apple's new Hongdae store combines youth and creativity

Set in the heart of Hongdae — Seoul’s “epicenter of youth” known for its vibrant art scene and nightlife and as a bustling college hub neighboring some of Korea’s most prestigious universities — is Apple’s seventh retail store in Korea.

Apple Hongdae, Apple's seventh retail store in Korea, will open at 10 a.m. on Saturday. [YONHAP]

Set in the heart of Hongdae — Seoul’s “epicenter of youth” known for its vibrant art scene and nightlife and as a bustling college hub neighboring some of Korea’s most prestigious universities — is Apple’s seventh retail store in Korea.

The Korea JoongAng Daily took a tour around the store and experienced the Pop-Up Studio session exclusive to Apple Hongdae, before the official opening set for 10 a.m. Saturday.

The store offers an inviting space for students, their families, and the local community to participate in “Today with Apple” sessions, in line with Hongdae's creative culture.

Apple's Pop-up Studio session featuring Beenzino will be exclusively held at Apple Hongdae every day at 5 p.m. starting on Jan. 20. [APPLE]

The Pop-Up Studio session features hip-hop artist and entrepreneur Beenzino, who takes participants on a ride to explore Apple’s Freeform, a flexible canvas used to organize and visually lay out content. Beenzino lays out his 2024 vision board and inspiration behind his single “Train,” which is newly released in Spatial Audio and only available on Apple Music. Customers will be instructed by staff members to collect and edit ideas, art, photos, videos and more to create their own vision boards using Freeform on iPad.

The sessions will run every day at 5 p.m. starting on Jan. 20 and will run through the month. It will be made available across all Apple Stores in Korea, Japan and Australia from Feb. 9 as part of the company’s Bring on College with Apple campaign.

Customers can drop by the store to participate in Today at Apple sessions. [APPLE]

The location at Hongdae makes it the first Apple Store to open in the Mapo District, western Seoul, making it more accessible for students coming from Hongik University, Yonsei University’s Shinchon Campus and Ewha Women’s University.

The opening of the store coincides with the start of the school year. Current and returning students as well as their families can buy products at cheaper prices by taking advantage of Apple’s Education Pricing, available exclusively through Apple Retail.

Eligible customers will also receive AirPods when they buy an eligible Mac, or an Apple Pencil when they buy an eligible iPad, through the college student offer running through March 13.

Free Today at Apple sessions for students will also be held at the store from January to March. Students can sign up for the Bring on College workshops led by Apple Creatives, which offer tutorials on how to use Macs and iPads to create presentations, documents, spreadsheets and organize lecture notes.

Apple Hongdae's new logo design incorporates Korean letters to make up the iconic Apple trademark. [KIM JU-YEON]

Screens near the Pickup station displayed the newly designed logo for the Hongdae store, which uses the Korean letters to write Hongdae and then make up the iconic Apple trademark. It is representative of the neighborhood’s spirit, said a worker from the store.

“Hongdae has long been a sanctuary for artists in Korea. The logo incorporates graffiti to capture the spirit of Hongdae, for its street culture, fashion and hip-hop,” he said.

Apple Hongdae’s 91 retail team members are made up of experts, foreigners, Hongdae residents and technicians, and can speak Korean, English, Chinese and French. They are ready to provide each customer with personally tailored assistance, a point Patrick Schuerpf, the director of retail business in Asia, largely emphasized to the press on Thursday.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]