GWANGJU < invest Korea

According to Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea,

Lotte Group is expected to build a large shopping mall in Gwangju, 330 kilometers southwest of Seoul, making it another arena of competition between Korea’s top three retail brands.

According to sources on Monday, Gwangju Metropolitan City recently proposed the Gwangju Family Land site, located in Uchi-dong, Buk-gu in the city, to Lotte as a location for its shopping mall complex. The proposal comes after Lotte’s two rivals – Hyundai Department Store and Shinsegae Group – announced their respective candidate sites for shopping malls in Gwangju.

Gwangju has a population of 1.43 million as of the end of last year, ranking 6th after Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, and Daejeon among metropolitan cities. If surrounding Jeonbuk and Jeonnam areas are included, the market potential is quite high with a population of more than 2 million.

Gwangju Family Land launched in 1991 was once operated by Kumho Group and enjoyed a reputation as the largest amusement park in the Jeollar province, but it has lost visitors due to aging facilities. The site’s area is close to 230,000 square meters, which is somewhat smaller than a candidate site for Shinsegae’s Starfield Gwangju, which was announced on Aug. 17.

Sources said Gwangju’s shopping mall plan proposed to Lotte also included the construction of a third Lotte World Adventure following the other two in Seoul and Busan.

But it remains to be seen whether Lotte will accept the proposal from the city as Lotte’s candidate location is relatively far from the city center compared to the other candidate sites allocated to Hyundai Department Store and Shinsegae, respectively.

Market watchers expect that Lotte will soon announce its own shopping mall complex project in Gwangju.

Lotte’s construction of a large shopping mall in Gwangju comes after Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin vowed to bring life to the domestic industrial ecosystem and revitalize the local economy in response to President Yoon Suk-yeol’s special pardons to him along with other business leaders on the Aug. 15 Liberation Day anniversary.

Earlier, President Yoon approved his first special pardons of a group of convicted business leaders to help the nation overcome a raft of economic challenges. Building mega shopping malls and entertainment complex to Gwangju was also one of the president’s pledges during his presidential campaign.

By Oh Soo-hyun, Kang Min-ho and Minu Kim

Copyrights Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (Aug. 30, 2022)