Korean retail giant Shinsegae opened its first duty-free store in Seoul on Wednesday.

The operator of the nation’s largest discount chain E-mart opened the duty-free outlet on the top four floors of its flagship Shinsegae department store, featuring about 600 brands. 


The store is located a less than 10-minute walk from Lotte’s main duty-free shop, which is South Korea’s largest store by sales. It is also about 3 kilometers from the second-largest outlet, the Shilla Duty Free Seoul.

To attract customers with deep pockets, Shinsegae said it will join hands with Standard Chartered to invite 300,000 VIP customers from six Asian nations.

It also plans to partner with the city government to upgrade the Namdaemun traditional market and the area nearby into a global tourism spot.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)