Shinsegae opened its Seoul duty-free outlet in the heart of the tourist district Myeong-dong on Wednesday, ahead of Doosan’s outlet set to open Friday.

Located on the eighth to 12th floors of the Shinsegae Department Store, the sprawling duty-free store opened with about 600 brands including luxury brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. 

The company has yet to bring in major luxury brands Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes, but Shinsegae DF CEO Sung Yong-mok told reporters at a press conference that he hoped to house them “by the latter half of next year.”

Sung also said that Shinsegae DF was preparing to bid for another duty-free license in Seoul when the Korea Customs Service launches the bidding process later this month or early June.

The new outlet will also feature specialized zones for experiencing Korean cultural content such as Korean characters or dramas, with aims to better appeal to the large number of tourists visiting Myeong-dong.

The location of Shinsegae’s first tax-free outlet in Seoul pits it directly against Lotte Duty Free, which has been a major draw in the tourist shopping district for decades.


Shinsegae was one of two retail conglomerates that emerged victorious after an intense bidding competition for duty-free licenses in Seoul last year.

The other was Doosan, which set up its duty-free store in Doosan Tower, located in the fashion district of Dongdaemun. Although the outlet takes up nine floors, the initial opening will only feature seven floors with 500 brands.

Doosan’s Doota Duty Free is the conglomerate’s first duty-free store, signaling that the group is seeking additional sources of retail revenue.

Although Doota Duty Free was also set to open Wednesday along with Shinsegae Duty Free, Doosan announced Tuesday that it would be delaying it’s the launch until Friday. The postponement was made taking into consideration that there would be more footfalls during the weekend, according to the company.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)