Department stores launch early Christmas competition with grander displays

Big three department store chains complete holiday makeovers

Giant trees and sculptures anchor year-end themes

Record foreign tourist numbers fuel 'landmark war'

The "Lotte Town Dream Light Garden," illuminated by 20,000 lights, at the Lotte Department Store main branch in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul. [Lotte Department Store]

South Korea's major department stores have wasted no time launching their Christmas season competition. With more than 50 days still to go before Dec. 25, the stores have already switched on their tree lights and started playing carols — as they do every year from late October.

Lotte Department Store unveiled its year-end Christmas display Thursday under the theme "Lotte Town Dream Light Garden." The centerpiece is light: 20,000 bulbs illuminate a 100-meter stretch connecting Euljiro 1-ga Station on Seoul Subway Line 2 to the store's main building and its Avenuel wing.

The main branch also features a 15-meter "Heart Light Tree" fitted with moving heart-shaped lights and a four-meter sculpture of a new Christmas character called "Hey Yeti." A large-scale "Lotte Town Light" installation — billed as the biggest in the Myeong-dong shopping district — is set to go live on the Young Plaza exterior of the main branch next month. Themed displays will roll out in turn at the Jamsil and Incheon branches as well.

Shinsegae Department Store has announced it will reveal its season video through Shinsegae Square — the large media facade on its main branch — on Nov. 6. The theme is "A Fantastical Journey to Deliver Christmas Wishes," following a bear who guards a post office as it sets sail on a balloon ship carrying letters filled with holiday wishes.

The number of stores hosting Christmas markets has grown to four this year. The Gangnam and main branches have been joined by Daejeon Shinsegae Art & Science and Busan Centum City.

The Christmas display at Hyundai Department Store's Trade Center branch. [Hyundai Department Store]

Hyundai Department Store's Trade Center branch has been transformed into a New York City Christmas street of the 1980s and '90s since Tuesday, under the theme "Christmas in New York City." The concept will spread to the Apgujeong main branch Sunday, followed by The Hyundai Seoul on Nov. 10, and then to stores nationwide. The Hyundai Seoul location will feature 13 red-brick buildings up to 10 meters tall, along with billboards, neon signs and yellow taxis.

Four Hyundai Premium Outlet locations — Gimpo, Songdo, Space One and Daejeon — will each have outdoor plazas fitted with Christmas trees up to 13 meters tall and New York-inspired decorations.

The industry's early push into the Christmas season reflects a deliberate effort to pull forward year-end consumer spending. The disappearance of Halloween marketing from the retail sector following the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush has also played a role. Above all, with inbound foreign tourist arrivals at a record high this year, stores are calculating that spectacular visual attractions will cement their status as must-visit landmarks.

Lotte Department Store became the first domestic department store to surpass 1 trillion won ($749 million) in cumulative sales to foreign customers, a milestone reached as of Oct. 6. Shinsegae Department Store and Hyundai Department Store are both on the verge of crossing the same threshold. According to Shinsegae, one in three visitors to its main branch is a foreign tourist. At The Hyundai Seoul, foreign customers accounted for 25.2 percent of total sales in September. "Department stores have fired the starting gun on the retail industry's full-scale year-end marketing push," an industry official said. "It's a competition to become a landmark in major high-traffic shopping districts."

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