Samsung rebrands retail chain as Samsung Store to court young consumers

Models pose in front of Samsung Electronics' offline store in southern Seoul's Gangnam District, Tuesday. The company said it has decided to change the name of its offline store to Samsung Store from Samsung Digital Plaza. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Electronics will change the name of its offline stores in Korea to Samsung Store from Samsung Digital Plaza in a bid to appeal to young consumers, the company said Tuesday.

Samsung operates the stores nationwide, selling various Samsung devices ranging from Galaxy smartphones to Bespoke home appliances.

The company said all its offline stores in department stores and supermarkets as well as 360 Samsung Digital Plazas nationwide will be renamed as Samsung Store from Wednesday. Samsung has used the name Digital Plaza for its offline stores for 23 years since 2000.

After changing the name, Samsung plans to strengthen its younger brand image with gadgets of Galaxy, Bespoke, SmartThings and Lifestyle TV brands and aims to make Samsung Store a local landmark by offering various customized customer experiences at each store.

“Based on the value of the hyper-connected experience provided by One Samsung, Samsung Store will provide locally customized content and programs, transforming the offline store into a local community hub where customers will want to visit and stay,” the company said.

For instance, the company will operate Samsung Culture Lab to share how to use its latest Galaxy devices and Bespoke home appliances and offer various learning programs related with cooking, interior and creating short-form videos, which are favored by younger people.

Four Samsung Store branches in Seoul, Bucheon, Yongin and Gimhae will introduce Samsung Store Coding School, a science and computer software programming class for teenagers to help them improve their IT capabilities using the latest Samsung devices.

With the rebranding, the company will also emphasize its efforts to contribute to global climate change efforts.

A Samsung Store branch in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, acquired Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council as the offline store is using water-saving products to save the use of water and used recycled products for the construction of the store. Samsung will expand the acquisition of this kind of certification issued in Korea and abroad to beef up its eco-friendly image.

As part of efforts to provide customized services, Samsung Store will offer customers counseling services from employees who are called “D'tailor.” Samsung elaborated that D'tailors will suggest products that fit each customer's lifestyle down to the small detail.