Myeong-dong occupied by comestics shops
By Park Si-soo
Cosmetics shop signs hang in the main street of Myeong-dong, a popular shopping district in central Seoul. The district is now flooded with mid- and low-priced cosmetics stores to meet growing demand from Chinese visitors. / Korea Times photo by Park Si-soo
The mercury crashed to near-zero in central Seoul on Wednesday afternoon. But the cold didn’t seem to deter customers, mostly from China, from visiting cosmetic shops in Myeong-dong.
Winter coat-wearing Chinese shoppers were either chatting or giggling as they stood in a long queue to pay for skin essences, lotions and mask packs at the cashier.
Outside, Chinese-speaking Korean clerks were handing out colorful fliers, also written in Chinese, to potential Chinese customers.
“Xie xie (Thank you),” a clerk said as a female Chinese visitor stepped out of the store with a bloated plastic bag. “Xie xie,” the customer replied.
“Skin essences and mask packs are the best-selling products,” a cashier at the store said.
There are more than 130 cosmetics shops in Myeong-dong, a more than three-fold increase from 38 in 2012, according to data compiled by an association of Myeong-dong-based retailers. The sharp increase is largely attributable to the surge of Chinese travelers in recent years, the association said.
These visitors’ lavish spending on beauty products has changed the commercial landscape of Myeong-dong, turning the district once dominated by banks, gourmet restaurants and fashion stores into a cluster of mid- and low-priced cosmetics shops.
Korean cosmetics are in high demand among the Chinese for their quality. Further fueling the demand is the popularity of Korean celebrities and pop culture throughout Asia.
The change forced the Burger King outlet near the Korean office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to close. The outlet, which ceased operations on Nov. 15 after 29 years, was once the place to be for young people, who contributed significantly to its bottom line. But its sales plunged with the hike in Chinese travelers, who are still relatively unfamiliar with Western fast food.
The venue is now occupied by Nature Republic, a mid-priced Korean cosmetics brand. The brand has eleven more outlets in Myeong-dong.
“The outlet’s sales dropped sharply as a result of the increase in Chinese travelers,” a Burger King official said.
A large-scale bookstore at the heart of Myeong-dong also closed late last month. Other businesses that closed because of the sharp fall in sales are Krispy Kreme, a U.S. doughnut brand, and Esquire, a local shoe brand.
An estimated 11.1 million foreigners visited Korea in 2012, many of whom are from China. This figure is expected to jump to 13.6 million by the end of the year and 18.7 million in 2018, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.
Korea is one of Chinese travelers’ most favorite destinations, along with Japan, for its geographic proximity, according to the World Tourism Cities Federation.