Korea's big three department stores on track for 2,000 pop-ups this year

South Korea's major department stores are on track to host more than 2,000 pop-up stores this year. The country's distinctive pop-up culture, now a defining feature of its retail landscape, has begun drawing foreign tourists as well, spurring a wave of new experiential concepts.

According to industry sources, Lotte Jamsil Town in Songpa-gu, Seoul — home to Lotte Department Store, Lotte World and Lotte Duty Free — will host around 700 pop-ups this year, roughly matching last year's volume. The Hyundai Seoul, which draws a high share of foreign visitors, plans to run about 600 pop-ups at a similar pace to last year. Shinsegae Department Store's Gangnam branch will operate around 800 pop-ups this year.

The domestic department store industry began ramping up its pop-up strategy in 2022, when The Hyundai Seoul hosted a pop-up for idol group NewJeans. What started as makeshift use of store entrances and idle floor space has since evolved into full-floor pop-up programming spanning entire buildings.

The format's appeal lies in creating a "something new every day" shopping environment. Individual pop-ups typically run one to two weeks, meaning dozens appear and disappear at a single store each month, keeping the shopping experience fresh. The format also generates a strong chain-reaction spending effect, as visitors drawn by a pop-up often make additional purchases elsewhere in the store.

Pop-ups targeting foreign tourists have been a consistent draw. A standout example was a BTS pop-up held at "The Heritage" inside Shinsegae's main branch from March 20 to April 12. Competition to land the event was fierce, given its potential to resonate with the group's global fandom. During the pop-up period, sales at Shinsegae's main branch rose 70.2 percent year on year.

Lotte Department Store ran the "Lotte Town Myeongdong Festival" from May 15 to May 25, themed around Korean herbal medicine shops and escape rooms. The event also spotlighted K-beauty brands with overseas followings, including Imiis and Sulwhasoo. Foreign customer sales at the main branch rose 150 percent year on year during the period.

The Hyundai Seoul operated "Live Seoul," a pop-up space exclusively for foreign visitors, from May 8 through June 2. The space offered personal color and body-type analysis sessions and drew a cumulative 250-plus visitors despite limiting capacity to two people per hour.