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When you say Times Square, you immediately think of the famous New York City landmark, and not a shopping mall in the Yeongdeungpo district of Seoul.
It seems curious to name the sprawling shopping mall after such a well-known place. Perhaps its developers hoped a name like Times Square would entice people to flock to its Western-style shopping mall, which is still a relatively new concept in Korea.
Yet more than a year since it opened September 2009, not many people in Seoul are aware of Times Square, let alone visiting it, due to weak marketing and promotion.
A brochure describes Times Square as an ``urban entertailling lifestyle center.’’ Before you think ``entertailling’’ is a typo, the term refers to the combination of entertainment and retailing.
The brochure reads, ``Times Square presents trend, culture, nature and composure you may feel like you are taking a walk while shopping!” in awkward English.
Taking up 300,000 square meters, Times Square offers seven levels of shops, restaurants, a cinema, art hall, bookstore, an Oriental medicine hospital, banks, an E-Mart, food court and a game center. It is also connected to Shinsegae department store and Courtyard by Marriot Hotel.
The shopping mall is accessible by subway, from either Yeongdeungpo Station (line 1), Mullae Station (line 2) and Yeongdeungpo Market Station (line 5).
If you’re coming from Yeongdeungpo Station, you have to walk through an underground shopping area and pass through two Shinsegae department store buildings before finally reaching Times Square. It can get quite confusing, even with the signs.
Thankfully, there are information desks where you can get an floor guide in English and Japanese with details such as store locations, phone numbers and operating hours. There are also conveniently located interactive guides, although these are mostly in Korean and have limited English and Japanese information.
The first impression one gets of Times Square is that it is sparkling clean, bright and spacious. The only problem is on weekends when crowds cause congestion near the elevators and escalators near the Atrium.
The retail selection includes a Kyobo Bookstore, Gap, Zara, Beanpole, Nature Republic and Adidas and Nike shops and stores that you cannot find elsewhere, but the only advantage is it is all under one roof.
Each floor seems to have a theme, like the first floor with all the global SPA brands like Zara, Mango and Nine West. The second and third floor features fashion and lifestyle stores like 7 for Mankind, Gap, Adidas Originals, Muji and Francfranc. On the fourth floor customers can find the CGV Cineplex, and a branch of the Jaseng Hospital of Oriental Medicine and more upscale restaurants.
However, the mall’s retail offerings must compete with Shinsegae department store. Koreans are already so used to shopping at department stores, where there is a greater variety of products and they can earn points or rewards. The only advantage of shopping at the mall is the shops seem to have fewer crowds, more stock and it is quite spacious.
The Times Square luxury hall has gathered some of the biggest interanational brands, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Bulgari and Ferragamo. Louis Vuitton, as usual, has the same policy of limiting the number of customers inside the store, hence making customers wait for 10 to 20 minutes to enter.
Christmas at the mall
Aside from the shops, Times Square is trying hard to attract more people with special events during the weekend. There are mini-concerts by K-pop singers and groups at the Atrium. There is an on-going ``White Christmas’’ promotional campaign, with some Christmas displays and photo zones where children and adults can pose with Santa Claus or a giant Teddy Bear.
The shopping mall is also holding a 2011 New Year countdown, perhaps copying New York City’s tradition of welcoming in the New Year at Times Square.
Times Square is presenting itself as an ``artistic’’ mall with several installations by famous Korean artists. Suh Do-ho’s impressive ``Karma’’ sculpture instantly grabs the attention of passersby outside the mall, while Yun Dong-koo’s ``The Sky Waterfall’’ composed of three huge shining balls suspended overhead in the Atrium does the same for shoppers inside. Unfortunately, these artistic offerings are ignored by most of the shoppers.
Malls are not usually considered as green, but Times Square insists it devotes 20 percent of the gross area for green spaces. Most of the ``green’’ spaces are found in the plaza, a garden, fountain and the Sky Park.
Shoppers remain unconvinced of these attractions and events do not seem to be enough of a draw. Perhaps an advantage of Times Square is that it offers a comfortable indoor shopping experience all year round, regardless of the weather.
Times Square still needs to step up its efforts to make the shopping experience more exciting, enjoyable, unique and worthwhile for people to make the trip to Yeongdeungpo.
‘타임스퀘어’ 고객 끄는데 실패
‘타임스퀘어’ 하면 서울 영등포에 있는 쇼핑몰이 아닌 뉴욕시 랜드마크인 그 유명한 타임스퀘어를 떠올릴 것이다.
이 설립자는 그 같은 유명한 이름을 본떠 쇼핑몰에 붙이기로 한 것인지 의아스러울 것이다. 아마도 타임스퀘어라는 이름을 지어주면 이 서양스타일의 쇼핑몰에 사람들을 끌어들일 수 있으리라는 희망 때문이었으리라.
2009년 9월 개장한지 1년이 넘었지만 빈약한 마케팅과 홍보로 서울 사람들 중 아는 사람이 많지 않으며 찾아가는 사람도 많지 않다.
이 쇼핑몰의 책자엔 타임 스퀘어를 “도심의 연예-소매 라이프스타일 중심지”로 설명하고 있다. “entertailing”이 오타로 생각하기 전 이 단어는 entertainment(오락)과 retailing(소매)의 합성어이다.
이 책자는 어색한 영어로 “타임스퀘어는 쇼핑을 하며 걸어다니는 것 같은 느낌을 느낄수 있는 트렌드, 문화, 자연, 마음의 평정을 준다”고 쓰여있다.
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