The first The Conran Shop in South Korea has opened in Seoul inside a Lotte Department store.
The British luxury furniture and home-accessories retailer’s first store in the country is a 2229sqm outlet, which occupies two stories of an old car park connected to the Lotte Department Store in Gangnam. Design magazine Dezeen described its design as a “yin and yang-like balance” between the store’s two levels, with each floor having a unique but complementary fit-out.
“The time is right for us to partner with Korea – we’re looking forward to ideas flowing both ways,” said Conran’s CEO Hugh Wahla. “”The market is growing exponentially in importance and sophistication across many areas, including tech, fashion, music, architecture and design.”
Founder Terrance Conran’s design firm worked with The firm’s in-house team to develop the interiors. The premises feature a mural by British designer John Booth, whose products are also featured in the store.
“This is an exciting time for us to become a part of the Korean design scene – it’s fast becoming a hub of style and design and has already developed an exciting retail landscape full of fresh concepts and innovative brands,” said The Conran Shop’s buying and merchandising director Henrietta Klug. “An ever-growing stable of Korean designers is already influencing today’s popular culture.”
The Conran Shop in South Korea store offers more than 300 designer brands such as Fritz Hansen and Vitra to a burgeoning lifestyle market that has grown almost 70 per cent over the past 10 years and is currently worth KRW12 trillion (US$10.28 billion).
Plans are afoot to open further outlets of The Conran Shop in South Korea.
