Hyundai Department Store Promotes ‘K-Local’ Content in Areas Popular with Foreign Visitors

[Financial News] Hyundai Department Store is stepping up efforts to strengthen ‘K-Local’ content centered on regional culture ahead of an era of 20 million foreign tourists.
According to industry sources on the 14th, Hyundai Department Store will operate the 283.6-square-meter ‘Edit Dept, Neo Local’ pop-up store on the first basement level of The Hyundai Seoul from the 17th through the 30th.
The pop-up store is designed as an exhibition and experience space introducing online- and offline-based local brands that have not previously been showcased at the department store. It moves beyond the conventional approach of simply selling regional specialties and souvenirs.
Around 20 local brands in fashion, beauty, living and food will participate, presenting products that reflect the culture and stories of their respective regions. Participants include artist So Dong-ho’s ‘Street Chairs of Seoul,’ which reinterprets street chairs in Seoul as craftworks; Daegu-based Kiim Studio, which applies traditional quilting techniques to contemporary handbags; Busan Haeundae’s Haeridan-gil lifestyle select shop LUFT MANSION; and Gotae, which incorporates the curved beauty of the traditional ‘gat’ hat into tableware.
‘Park Chan-yong’s Little House,’ operated by former fashion and lifestyle magazine editor Park Chan-yong, will showcase design goods made in collaboration with regional manufacturers. Examples include erasers from Daegu-based Hwarang Rubber and nail clippers from Bucheon-based Royal Metal Industry.
Hyundai Department Store’s move to strengthen K-Local content reflects a shift in the way foreign visitors travel to Korea. Rather than limiting their trips to Seoul’s major attractions, they are increasingly seeking to experience the cultures of regions across the country firsthand.
According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), 853,905 foreign visitors entered Korea through regional airports in the first quarter of this year, up 49.7% from the same period a year earlier. The number of foreign travelers using domestic railways also rose 46.4% to approximately 1.69 million.
During the same period, the rate of foreign visitors traveling to regions outside the capital area reached 34.5%, up 3.2 percentage points from a year earlier. The total number of days foreign visitors stayed in regional areas increased 36.2% to 5.28 million, while their regional spending rose 17.2% to $880 million.
Starting with The Hyundai Seoul, Hyundai Department Store plans to operate Neo Local pop-up stores sequentially through the end of the year at major stores nationwide, including Hyundai Outlet Dongdaemun and Connect Hyundai Cheongju.
Yang Myeong-seong, Executive Director of Sales Strategy at Hyundai Department Store, said, “This ‘Neo Local’ pop-up store is more than a simple shopping space. It is Hyundai Department Store’s differentiated initiative to offer global customers content that is both distinctly Korean and sophisticated.” He added, “We will continue to solidify the standing of Korean department stores as leaders of global trends through original spatial planning and storytelling.”

[email protected] Jang Yu-ha Reporter