Hyundai Outlet Dongdaemun to undergo first renovation in 10 years, targeting foreign tourists

Hyundai Department Store announced Wednesday that it will renovate Hyundai Outlet Dongdaemun to mark the store's 10th anniversary, bringing in more than 60 new domestic and international fashion, beauty and food brands.

The renovation will cover four floors — from the second below-ground level to the second above-ground floor — spanning about 14,800 square meters (about 4,500 pyeong, where 1 pyeong equals 3.3 square meters). Work will proceed in phases through the end of the year.

The centerpiece of the overhaul is the second below-ground food hall (4,595 square meters), set to open in September. The entire floor will be redesigned around an "alley market" concept, featuring popular hansik ("Korean food") restaurants favored by foreign visitors, including Apgujeong Doseulbak and Gwanghwamun Mijin. About 30 domestic and international food and beverage brands will also debut there, among them cafe Terarosa, Japanese-style bakery Ekinomae and Mexican food brand Cuchara.

The first below-ground floor will be transformed into a K-fashion zone, with more than half its tenant brands drawn from domestic fashion labels. Starting in August, about 10 popular Korean fashion brands — including Hago House and Louvre — will open stores there. On the second above-ground floor, Hyundai Home Shopping's beauty select shop Coasis and a pharmacy-style health and beauty store will move in. A rotating hot pot restaurant, Yonggahwoguo, operating until midnight, is also set to open on the first below-ground floor in October.

Also planned for the first below-ground floor before year's end is an expanded "Global Service Lounge" offering one-stop tax refund and currency exchange services. The outlet will also introduce new kiosks dedicated to foreign customers.

The renovation is a response to surging sales from foreign shoppers. Sales to foreign customers at Hyundai Outlet Dongdaemun jumped 122 percent year-on-year from January through May, with foreign shoppers accounting for 23.7 percent of total sales. The share of sales from foreign customers has tripled compared with 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tourist traffic to Dongdaemun has also been on the rise. According to the Korea Tourism Organization's data lab, the number of foreign visitors to Euljiro-dong in Jung-gu — where Hyundai Outlet Dongdaemun is located — reached 318,304 in April, jumping 16.8 percent from the same period a year earlier.

"Dongdaemun is gaining attention as a destination where visitors can experience everyday Korean life, rather than simply a shopping district," a Hyundai Department Store official said. "As the area draws global tourists of diverse nationalities — beyond the Chinese group travelers and daigou shoppers of the past — we aim to develop Hyundai Outlet Dongdaemun into a leading shopping destination in Seoul."