Who will get 3 new duty free tickets?
By Jhoo Dong-chan
The wait is over for five retailers seeking to open new duty free stores in Seoul as the government will announce Saturday who will get new licenses.
But only three will come out smiling, with the remaining two heading home empty-handed.
The Korea Customs Service (KCS), which is currently evaluating their bids, will announce the winners for long-desired downtown duty free licenses at 8 p.m. today.
It said it will grant a total of four duty free licenses. Of them, three licenses will be allocated for conglomerates, for which five retailers ― Lotte Duty Free, HDC Shilla Duty Free, Shinsegae Duty Free, Walkerhill Duty Free and Hyundai Duty Free ― are competing..
Lotte Duty Free, which was involved in political turmoil surrounding the Choi Soon-sil scandal, plans to invest a total of 2.3 trillion won to reopen a duty free store at Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul. It highlighted its knowhow in duty free operations and the tower’s favorable location near Seokchon Lake and the Olympic Stadium.
Lotte Duty Free also said it will organize a cherry blossom festival in April and a fall festival in November. If granted the license, Lotte Duty Free is expected to be the largest duty free store in Korea.
It failed to renew its license for the Lotte World Tower store at a screening last year, but the government decided to allow Lotte Duty Free a second chance by increasing the number of duty free licenses as well as extending the licenses from five years to 10.
Like Lotte Duty Free, SK Networks’ Walkerhill Duty Free also lost its license last year, but was allowed to participate in the bid following the government’s decision to increase the number of downtown duty free stores.
SK Networks said it plans to open a 39,669-square-meter spa resort inside the duty free store. Separate from the spa resort, it also said it will develop a tourism program for northeastern Seoul.
However, the recent revelations over the two conglomerates’ massive donations to the scandal-ridden Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation, both allegedly controlled by Choi, are an obstacle.
HDC Shilla Duty Free, a joint venture between Hotel Shilla and Hyundai Development Company, will emphasize customers’ product experiences and underline IT and mid-size brand shops inside the duty-free store. It will open an IT-converged duty free shop, combined with Samsung's cutting-edge technologies.
Using the 5G mobile communication technology of Samsung Electronics, the new duty free store plans to adopt the industry's first merged reality (MR) technology, as well as the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies of Samsung SDS.
Investing a total of 350 billion won, Shinsegae Duty Free plans to develop tourism infrastructure near the Shinsegae Department Store in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul. It will renovate pedestrian passageways near the area’s landmarks like Seoul Arts Center and Sevitseom as well as organizing a series of premium gourmet festivals in Itaewon.
Aiming to open a duty free store in Samseong-dong, Hyundai Duty Free will invest a total of 50 billion won to build a K-pop theme park in front of Hyundai Department Store and promises to hold concerts there at least three times a year.