Hyundai Livart Opens Three Stores in Succession, Including The Hyundai Seoul Branch
Displays Feature Customer Hands-On Experience, with Styling Consultant Services Offered
Hyundai Livart is picking up the pace in expanding its sales network, opening a series of compact stores for ‘Williams-Sonoma,’ the No. 1 premium home furnishing brand in the United States.
Hyundai Livart, the total interior company under the Hyundai Department Store Group, has opened a total of three compact stores: the ‘Williams-Sonoma’ store at The Hyundai Seoul, the ‘West Elm’ store at The Hyundai Seoul, and the West Elm store at the Hyundai Department Store Jungdong branch.
The newly opened stores range in size from 90 to 120㎡, making them roughly one-third the size of the existing stores (330㎡) and thus more compact. In addition, rather than standalone road-shop stores, they take the form of tenants within department stores. Most of the roughly 100 Williams-Sonoma stores across six countries worldwide operate as road shops of 1,000㎡ or more.
These stores are also notably positioned near escalators, where customer traffic is heavy. The aim is to make it easy for department store visitors to recognize the brand and stop by. Hyundai Livart currently operates a total of nine compact stores of this type, including at the Hyundai Department Store Apgujeong main branch and the Trade Center branch.
A Hyundai Livart official said, “Visits are naturally increasing among department store customers who have a strong interest in home furnishing, and the compact-format stores already unveiled are seeing sales per unit area more than 30% higher than at existing road shops,” adding, “We plan to have 13 compact stores in place by the end of this year.”
The newly unveiled ‘WSI The Hyundai Seoul branch’ offers more than 1,500 varieties of kitchenware, sundries, cookware, and coffee items all in one place, and it has adopted a ‘customer hands-on display’ approach so that customers can touch and try out the products on sale for themselves.
In particular, in an unusual move for a living store, WSI The Hyundai Seoul branch is located in the food hall (Tasty Seoul) on the first basement level. West Elm, which is entering the living halls at The Hyundai Seoul (4th floor) and the Hyundai Department Store Jungdong branch (7th floor), sells more than 280 items, including furniture, bedding, and decorative accessories. In particular, it operates the ‘Design Crew’ home styling consultant service, which proposes furniture and accessories for customers who want overall home styling, such as those preparing for a remodel or newlyweds.
A Hyundai Livart official said, “We plan to continue expanding our compact-format WSI stores going forward,” adding, “Through the ongoing development of new content, we will solidify our image as a company leading the domestic home furnishing trend.”
▲ ‘Williams-Sonoma The Hyundai Seoul branch,’ a premium kitchenware select shop located on B1F of The Hyundai Seoul
