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| An artist's impression of E-Mart Town that will open in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, on June 18. The outlet will be as big as 10 soccer grounds, posing a big challenge to major shopping centers in the city northwest of Seoul. / Courtesy of Shinsegae Group |
By Park si-soo
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| Chung Yong-jin Shinsegae vice chairman |
E-Mart Town is as big as 10 soccer fields combined and will pose a grave challenge to other major shopping centers located in the city northwest of Seoul. The mall is located just miles away from Hyundai Department Store, Home plus, Lotte Big Market and Costco. Swedish home furnishing retailer IKEA plans to open an outlet there in 2017, turning Ilsan into a battleground for major retailers.
"The E-Mart Town will become an ideal one-stop shopping place," said a Shinsegae official. "We have put all our resources into the mall in order to set a new trend in retail business."
Industry insiders say Ilsan residents are relatively trend-sensitive and the city has numerous plots of land that remain undeveloped, a rare combination of favorable elements to launch a large-scale flagship retail outlet like E-Mart Town.
The shopping town will house an E-Mart supermarket and a warehouse-style wholesale store. It will also lure customers with what Shinsegae vice chairman Chung Yong-jin described as "three hidden cards" ― Peacock Kitchen, The Life and Electro Mart.
Peacock Kitchen is a premium food court, which Chung has promoted extensively this month. He has promoted the brand through his social networking website accounts, believing it will help the new mall. The 300-seat food court will be situated on the first floor of the mall, offering dishes from 14 popular franchise restaurants.
The Life is a home furnishing store with nearly 5,000 products; it will be located on the second floor. The store will differentiate itself from IKEA by displaying products based on price range, size and function.
"To maximize the convenience of customers, we attach a barcode that works with the E-Mart app on all products available so that customers can purchase and place a home-delivery order at the same time with the app," an E-Mart official said.
Electro Mart meanwhile is a specialty shop for home appliances where products from Samsung, LG and many other electronic firms at home and abroad will be available.
"The E-Mart Town is a cluster of trend-setting stores and good restaurants," the vice chief was quoted as saying in a release. "People will be able to have a high-quality one-stop shopping experience in the town."
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