Shinsegae and Doosan set to open their first duty-free stores in Seoul this week, fueling competition in the market.
South Korea’s leading duty-free operators are bracing for full-on competition to attract foreign tourists, as all five of last year’s newly-licensed duty-free stores in Seoul will open for business this week.
Shinsegae and Doosan are scheduled to open their new duty-free shops in Seoul on Wednesday, driving up competition among Korean duty-free businesses that target foreign shoppers, mainly the Chinese.
Duty-free stores are a rare bright spot in Korea’s sluggish retail sector, growing by an average 20 percent over the past five years. Last year, they posted a combined 9.2 trillion won ($8 billion) in sales.
Retail giant Shinsegae will open its first duty-free store inside its main department store in central Seoul, near Namdaemun Market and Myeong-dong, one of Korea’s most popular tourist hotspots.
It has so far secured a number of global luxury brands including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Moncler for its new store, with efforts underway to bring in top luxury houses like Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
Shinsegae’s new tax-free store is poised for fierce rivalry against Lotte’s main duty-free shop nearby in Myeong-dong — a key driver of Lotte Group’s retail business as well as Korea’s most profitable tax-free store.
(Source: Korea Herald)