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Retailers hit home run with baseball-themed merchandise
Hyundai Department Store officials pose with Hanwha Eagles jerseys at a pop-up store inside Connect Hyundai Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province, June 27. Yonhap
By Ko Dong-hwan
KBO’s growing popularity fuels strong sales at department stores, convenience stores nationwide
Merchandise linked to professional baseball is energizing sales across Korea’s department stores and convenience stores, as the sport continues to draw large crowds to stadiums, television screens and online platforms throughout the season.
Since the launch of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in 1982, the sport has enjoyed steady nationwide popularity, giving rise to a thriving retail market. Capitalizing on this, retailers have rolled out a variety of products inspired by popular teams and players — a strategy that has delivered strong results. With KBO attendance growing at a double-digit pace since 2022, the market outlook remains promising as long as the league maintains fan enthusiasm.
Since last year, Hyundai Department Store has hosted pop-up stores themed around each of the KBO’s eight teams, generating a cumulative 2.6 billion won ($1.9 million) in sales over a total of 84 days, an average of 31 million won in daily revenue. That figure is 55 percent higher than the average daily sales of fashion brand pop-ups.
In May, The Hyundai Seoul’s flagship store in Yeouido held a weeklong pop-up for the Hanwha Eagles, which sold out before its scheduled end date. Around the same time, the company’s Trade Center branch in Seoul hosted an LG Twins-themed pop-up in collaboration with merchandise brand Bloomingtale, offering limited-edition jerseys, keyrings and smartphone cases.
Interestingly, nearly 70 percent of pop-up store shoppers were women in their 20s and 30s, mirroring a broader shift in the sport’s demographics. During last year’s KBO All-Star Game, 68.8 percent of ticket buyers were female. Overall, women accounted for 54.4 percent of KBO ticket reservations in 2023, marking the first time in league history that female attendance outpaced male.
Korea Seven officials pose inside a 7-Eleven store, Sunday, with upcoming food products launched in collaboration with San Francisco Giants hitter Lee Jung-hoo. Courtesy of Korea Seven
Convenience stores are also joining the trend, broadening their product offerings through collaborations with the sport.
GS25, a major convenience store chain under GS Retail, operates two Hanwha Eagles-themed stores in Daejeon and one LG Twins store in Seoul. The company says these locations have generated sales nearly three times higher than the average GS25 outlet. It has also expanded its KBO merchandise lineup to include umbrellas and gym bags in response to growing demand.
Meanwhile, 7-Eleven — run by Lotte Group’s Korea Seven — announced Sunday that it will launch 20 new products in partnership with Lee Jung-hoo, a Korean slugger now playing for the San Francisco Giants. Starting Wednesday, the company will release three types of precooked meals featuring Lee on the packaging, with additional items such as pastries and beer set to follow next month.
This new campaign builds on the success of 7-Eleven’s earlier collaboration with the Lotte Giants in May, which sold over 1 million items within two weeks of launch.
“Sports fandom is becoming a powerful force in the consumer market,” said Cho Soo-kyung, head of Korea Seven’s product division.
“Our collaboration with Lee is centered on themes like American-style recipes, premium ingredients and health-conscious options. These kinds of unique products meet both product and emotional value, and we expect sports marketing to continue resonating with consumers.”