Dept. Stores Targetting Young Males
By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
Major department stores are rearranging their stores to target younger males.
Lotte Department Store in central Seoul plans to introduce a new spacious shop with various fashion accessory brands. It will also expand the number of shops for urban casual wear for men. Many other stores in the franchise across the nation will follow suit.
Hyundai Department Store looks to expand its share of casual wear and accessories to 50 percent of its overall men's clothes sales in its Mok-dong and Cheonho outlets in Seoul.
Shinsegae will also broaden casual menswear shops in general, with some provincial stores planning to introduce new brands as well.
Such moves are based on the analysis of their customers.
At the Lotte store, 7.4 percent of men's clothes were purchased by customers aged 20 to 29 in 2006, but the rate soared to 19.1 percent last year. The number of individual male shoppers has also been increasing, according to the department store.
As sales of clothes for younger customers are surging, some retailers are upgrading the space devoted to young shoppers and dealing with more luxury brands.
This year, Hyundai plans to remodel Young Plaza, a fashion hall exclusively for younger shoppers in its Sinchon branch in Seoul. Some new local and imported casual brands such as QUA and Miss Sixty will open new booths there, and stores will be enlarged to also carry shoes and bags.
Lotte will put more weight on a rising group of items, which sold well last year. Shops of import cosmetic brands, led by Kiehls and Bobby Brown, will have bigger booths in its outlets.
It will also open more "cool casual shops," which target teenaged shoppers, in its stores nationwide.