Consumers flock to indoor shopping malls to avoid heat
An employee holds a sign announcing that a pop-up store can take no more visitors at The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul, Sunday. Courtesy of Hyundai Department Store
By Kim Jae-heun
A 33-year-old housewife named Lee Eun-ji has been making frequent visits to a department store nearby her home in Incheon with two children, not to shop, but to avoid scorching heat.
“I think this summer is the hottest one that I've ever experienced,” she said. “I am afraid my children will suffer from heatstroke, so I only go to indoor places with air conditioning these days.”
A 35-year-old businessman surnamed Yoon has also been spending most of his weekends at I'PARK Mall at central Seoul's Yongsan Station to save electricity at home and avoid the heat.
“The shopping center has everything from restaurants and coffee shops to a movie theater. Especially during summer, when people can get drained from walking long hours under the sun, there is no place better than a shopping center that keeps the air conditioning on 24/7.
People are rushing to department stores, multi-shopping centers and large discount stores to beat the heat as the country suffers from severe heat that has climbed as high as 36 degree Celsius in recent days.
Local retailers have renovated some of their event halls as playgrounds for children and pop-up stores for consumers to come and enjoy while avoiding the extreme weather.
A children's playground is installed temporarily in Starfield Goyang in Gyeonggi Province, July 29, in collaboration with Woowa Brothers' Baemin B Mart. Courtesy of Shinsegae Property
Multi-shopping center chain Starfield's Goyang branch in Gyeonggi Province recently collaborated with food delivery firm Woowa Brothers to set up a children's playground on the first floor.
It installed a 2.6-meter-high slide and a ball pit filled with 30,000 plastic spheres. The space became so popular that people stood in line for two to three hours to use the facility last weekend.
Over 10,000 people visited The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido to shop at a pop-up store for the popular animation “Bbangbbang's Daily Life” on July 19 and 20. Crowds flocked to the store and formed a long line within 30 minutes of opening. Hyundai Department Store said the number of visitors soared 30 percent over the last weekend compared to the previous one.
“We have seen our food and beverage sales increase by double digits recently due to more people coming to our store to avoid the heat. Before, we've heard our parents' generation would go to commercial banks to enjoy the cool air-conditioned breeze. Nowadays, consumers are going to department stores and multi-shopping centers to avoid the heat,” a Shinsegae Department Store official said.