{"id":3863,"date":"2019-06-16T12:03:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-16T04:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ppkm.org.my\/site\/?p=3863"},"modified":"2025-03-13T14:29:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T06:29:43","slug":"seoul-korea-16-22-june-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ppkm.org.my\/site\/seoul-korea-16-22-june-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Seoul, Korea, June 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Seoul, Korea<\/strong>: 16-22 June 2019<\/strong>

PPKM organized the first study trip to Seoul, Korea with 39 participants who were excited to experience their shopping malls as well as the street retail scene. The group managed to pack in a half-day city tour as well as visits to 9 malls plus 2 retailers. Opinions included one that mentioned –  \u201cMalaysia has better malls, but (we) love their offerings and their fit out is much better than Malaysia\u201d<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although we soon realized that Korean malls did not usually entertain study groups, Korea Retail Association (KRA) presented a great talk on the retail market which certainly helped participants to understand Korea\u2019s shopping scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The malls visited included the chic Lotte World Mall, located at the integrated complex comprising of Lotte World Tower, the fifth highest tower in the world, Lotte Aquarium, Lotte Cinema, Lotte Concert Hall and the high end Avenuel Mall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants also went to Starfield CoexMall, Asia\u2019s largest underground mall, adjacent to a convention centre and which housed a beautiful state-of-the art gigantic library, open for in-house reading only with 13 metre high displays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Times Square Mall had a glass roof incorporating natural lighting and many environmentally-friendly spaces, even including a space for wedding and banquet halls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At ifc mall, the 17-meter high glass pavilions provided lots of natural light to the high-end shops and  upscale food court. The mall is flanked by prestigious office towers, residences and a hotel which contributes to the daily footfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another mega-mall is I-Park Mall with its 3,600 shops. The 11 storey mall is divided into 3 main areas comprising a department store, digital shopping enclave and an Event Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located at a previously industrial area, many shops at D\u2019Cube City Mall open out onto the adjacent parks and gardens bringing the outdoors in, especially for the F&B outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study group also visited Common Ground, an unusual artsy \u2018container mall\u2019, made up of more than 200 containers stacked up to 3 stories high with a simple but creatively designed space occupied by cool and quirky shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, it was an eye-opening visit especially being exposed to the multitude and magnitude of Korean cosmetic and toiletry retailers and their astonishing flagship stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n