Lotte Department Store said on the 30th that it will create a media façade called "Lotte Town Light" on the exterior of the Young Plaza in Myeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul. Measuring 77 meters wide and 21 meters high, it is the largest media façade in the Myeong-dong commercial district. Lotte Department Store plans to operate Lotte Town Light as an "urban entertainment screen" that delivers K-content in real time. After unveiling a teaser video inspired by Goethe's novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" in November, it will officially open in December.
Alongside this, Lotte Department Store will also renovate the Cosmonergy Plaza on the first basement floor of its main store starting in August. Created when the new wing opened in 1988, the Cosmonergy Plaza is expected to be reborn as a signature space of 840㎡ (about 250 pyeong) after roughly 40 years. New content reflecting Seoul's distinctive character will be introduced around the plaza late this year.
Through this, Lotte Department Store aims to strengthen the competitiveness of "Lotte Town Myeong-dong" and elevate it into a leading Seoul landmark that combines shopping, culture, content and tourism. In particular, it plans to actively target foreign tourists visiting Korea, who have emerged as big spenders in the department store industry.
According to the Korea Tourism Organization's DataLab, foreign tourist spending in Seoul reached 1.1765 trillion won in June this year, nearly double the level in January (595.5 billion won). Notably, in terms of foreign spending by district, Jung-gu (28.4%) ranked second, following Gangnam-gu (29.3%). This year, foreigners account for about 30% of sales at Lotte Department Store's main store.
Industry observers expect that as Lotte Department Store refurbishes Lotte Town Myeong-dong, competition to attract foreign visitors with Shinsegae Department Store's media façade "Shinsegae Square" will intensify. In particular, the two companies are expected to compete over "winter attractions" at year-end, leading with Christmas-season content.
Jung Hyun-seok, CEO of Lotte Department Store, said, "Lotte Town Myeong-dong will continue to expand differentiated spatial innovation and content, including the media façade, to take another step forward as Korea's top shopping and tourism landmark that domestic and international customers seek out first."
