Starfield Suwon draws 230,000 visitors in two days, prompting emergency traffic alerts

Hundreds of thousands of visitors flocked to Starfield Suwon for its opening day and weekend, prompting the city government to send emergency messages cautioning citizens of traffic safety as nearby roads became paralyzed due to massive crowds.

Onlookers crowded five floors at Starfield Suwon on Saturday to get a glimpse of a popup event for online game Brawl Stars. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Hundreds of thousands of visitors flocked to Starfield Suwon for its opening day and weekend, prompting the city government to send emergency messages cautioning citizens of traffic safety as nearby roads became paralyzed due to massive crowds.

An estimated 90,533 visitors stopped by Starfield Suwon on its opening day on Friday, according to Shinsegae Property on Sunday. An estimated 140,251 people visited the mall on Saturday, according to data compiled through the sensors attached at entrances and exits in the building. In total, the estimated 230,000 visitors over the two days make up about 19 percent of Suwon’s population, at around 1.2 million people. While no data has been collected on where the visitors came from, Starfield said most of its visitors were likely locals or residents of neighboring Gyeonggi province.

“It seems a large amount of interest was garnered as it is Suwon’s largest [shopping mall] and there are no similar shopping complexes near it,” a Starfield Suwon employee said.

Visitors crowded Starfield Suwon on its opening day on Friday. [NEWS1]

The shopping complex trended on social media and online communities over the weekend, especially as a photo of the completely packed mall went viral. The photo showed all five floors swarming with curious customers as a popup event took place on the first floor.

The photo was reportedly taken on Saturday afternoon during a popup event for the mobile game Brawl Stars. People gathered to watch a livestream of an influencer’s gameplay on media display boards, according to Starfield.

Kim, a Suwon local in his 20s, took a half-day off work to visit Starfield on its opening day, not wanting to brave the crowds on the weekend. “It was completely packed with people despite it being a weekday,” Kim said.

“I walked there since it was close by, but traffic around the mall, especially during rush hour, was mayhem. I heard it was worse on the weekend. I hope traffic order will be maintained so that it doesn’t affect local public transit too much.”

Many visitors who stopped by Starfield Suwon traveled by public transport or on foot. Other Starfield branches, including those in Hanam and Goyang, are located on city outskirts, and just 20 percent of visitors typically travel by public transport or by walking.

For Starfield Suwon, 60 to 70 percent of its visitors on Saturday traveled by foot or public transit, according to a Shinsegae Property employee. Approximately 60,000 people, six times more than the usual 10,000 people per day, reportedly walked the seven-minute commute between Hwaseo Station, the nearest stop on Line 1, and Starfield Suwon that day.

More than four times as many people than expected visited Starfield Suwon on Saturday, according to industry insiders.

“Due to safety concerns over the traffic jam around the Suwon Jeongja Starfield, people around the area are recommended to take a detour,” the Suwon government’s message on the same day said.

The company said it plans to hire an additional 100 operational staff workers and reschedule weekend events to weekdays, due to safety concerns on overcrowding.

BY LEE SU-JEONG, KIM JU-YEON, LEE HAY-JUNE [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]