SOUTH KOREA: THE SHILLA DUTY FREE
Shilla DF to start construction of new Seoul store once crisis lifts
The Shilla Duty Free is preparing to begin construction of its new downtown Seoul flagship store once South Korea’s coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis, that began in mid-February, sufficiently alleviates. David Hayes reports.
S
outh Korean travel retailer The Shilla Duty Free (Shilla) has been planning its new Seoul
downtown store for more than six years, but progress has been slow. This is due to strict building controlling all
regulations
development in the surrounding area, which is considered a site of national historic interest. Taeho Kim, Executive Vice
President - Korea Division, The Shilla Duty Free tells TRBusiness that construction will now commence in the first half of this year. Shilla’s new shop will be built on a
plot of land adjacent to the existing store in the Hotel Shilla compound in central Seoul’s Jung-gu district. The new store will be sited on what
was the former ground level car park, which is situated next to the sloping entrance driveway that serves the current Shilla shop. Site clearance for the new store
began in 2017 after approval was received from Seoul Metropolitan Government the previous year. Preparation work for the new
store’s large basement parking lot was completed in 2019 while Shilla waited for the government to approve the commencement of construction on the main shop building. “We are trying our best to make
this new store a ‘must visit place’ that can offer the best shopping experience in Korea,” says Kim. Expected to open by early 2022,
the new store is expected to be at least 10,000 sq m in area compared with the current shop size of 7,000 sq m. The project plans include
demolishing the existing shop once the new one opens and building a traditional three-storey Korean inn- style hotel on the present shop site. The hotel’s Korean architectural
MAY 2020
The new Seoul downtown store is expected to offer at least 10,000sq m of retail space compared with the 7,000sq m available at the current store (pictured).
style is designed to complement the nearby historic Yeong Bin Gwan state guesthouse, which lies between the duty free shop and Hotel Shilla, in what is one of Seoul’s important historic locations.
Reduced opening hours Ahead of the opening, Shilla continues to refine and expand its luxury brand collection in the current store, while carrying out work to upgrade its Jeju Island downtown shop and introducing new brands in its various airport shops around South Korea. For the moment though, the
company is coping with the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis, which has meant reduced store opening hours in Seoul and on Jeju Island due to the sharp fall in customers. Shilla’s airport shop operations
also continue to be heavily affected by international flight cancellations and reduced international passenger numbers, affecting changes to opening hours at the Seoul downtown and Jeju Island stores.
Shilla Duty Free’s Jeju International
Airport mixed category duty free shop has been closed since 14 March due to the suspension of almost all scheduled international flight services to Jeju. “We closed our Jeju Airport shop
temporarily mid-March; we were operating the shop according to the flight schedule,” comments Kim. “It’s pointless to open the Jeju
Airport shop as no planes are coming. We don’t know when international flights will start there again.” Elsewhere, Shilla also has seen a
sharp drop in customers at Incheon International Airport, where all its shops are open. Meanwhile, The Shilla Duty Free’s
Gimpo International Airport shop was operating restricted hours, but
The Shilla Duty Free’s new shop will be built on a plot of land adjacent to the existing store in the Hotel Shilla compound in central Seoul’s Jung-gu district.
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