This is the third installment in a series of articles on companies vying for Seoul’s new duty-free licenses to be issued Saturday -- Ed.Hyundai Department Store Group is putting luxury at the forefront of its bid for a duty-free license for its first-ever tax-free outlet, promising a full lineup of major luxury brands at the store as well as specialized zones focusing on various aspects of Korean culture.Hyundai Department Store pushed its 30 years of operating luxury department stores as eviden

DAEGU -- Retail giant Shinsegae is wrapping up the year with the grand opening of Daegu Shinsegae on Thursday, bringing a large-scale shopping and entertainment complex to the southern city connected to a transportation complex. The giant department store, which has more than 103,000 square meters of operating space, is Shinsegae Department Store‘s second large-scale branch outside of Seoul, following the Centum City branch in Busan. In addition to the traditional shopping areas, Daegu Shinsegae

This is the second installment in a series of articles on companies vying for Seoul’s new duty-free licenses to be issued Saturday -- Ed.Lotte Duty Free, Korea’s largest duty-free operator, said that it would maximize tourist attractions in and around Lotte World Tower to build up the competitiveness of its branch there. The company pledged Tuesday to invest 2.3 trillion won ($1.97 billion) over the next five years to bring in tourists, develop tourism infrastructure in southern Seoul and suppor

The Shilla Duty Free, operated by Hotel Shilla, was ranked first in the duty-free division in two major customer satisfaction indices this year, according to the company Wednesday.The duty-free operator received the highest marks among duty-free companies on the National Customer Satisfaction Index and the Korean Customer Satisfaction Index.  Hotel Shilla CEO Han In-kyu poses with employees after receiving the highest ranking on the NCSI on Tuesday. (Hotel Shilla)The NCSI combines survey results

PREMIUM PRODUCTS SOAR -- Dyson products are displayed for sale at Lotte Department Store in Sogong-dong, Seoul on Tuesday. While sales of household electronics rose 18.1 percent from January to October this year overall, sales of premium vacuums including those from Dyson rose 78 percent, showing that premium products remain strong even in a sluggish economy. (Yonhap)

Asiana Airlines, Korea’s second-largest air carrier, has won the airline division award for this year’s Mecenat Awards, the company said Tuesday.The Mecenat Award, given by the Korean Standards Association, is based on a two-month survey of 258 companies and consumers between the ages of 20 and 59 in Korea’s five largest cities. The survey includes 22 factors including business performance, human resource operations, creative management and leadership. Kim Soo-cheon, president of Asiana Airlines

Lotte Duty Free has teamed up with 11 major entertainment companies in Korea to work on connecting Hallyu content and tourism, the company said Tuesday. The companies include Hallyu heavyweights such as S.M. Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment. Under the agreement, Lotte Duty Free will incorporate Hallyu into its marketing by signing Korean stars as its spokesmodels, while the entertainment agencies will give support by providing models and content to the company. A promotiona

Korean retailers enjoyed a sales windfall on Friday, the unofficial Chinese holiday of Guanggun Jie, or Singles‘ Day, as Chinese consumers flocked to the internet in search of a deal.According to the Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce giant, Korea saw the third-largest volume of sales to China on Friday, following Japan and the United States. A sign shows the total gross merchandise volume for the Singles‘ Day Global Shopping Festival on Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. (Alibaba)Alibaba is b

A court appointed a pro bono organization as guardian of the 91-year-old Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho, deeming him mentally unfit to carry out business operations.The Seoul Family Court said Wednesday that it appointed The Sun, a nonprofit affiliate of a law firm led by former Seoul High Court head Lee Tae-woon, as Shin’s guardian. Under a limited guardianship, The Sun will have the power to make certain decisions on behalf of Shin.The request for adult guardianship for Shin was filed last D

The wine industry is on the rise in Korea as consumers show an increasing preference for lighter, fruitier alternatives to the traditional strongholds of beer and soju. In response to the rising demand, companies in Korea are developing exclusive partnerships with wineries abroad to bring down prices and increase sales. The wine sampler at Mad for Garlic. (Mad for Garlic)“As we have more customers asking for wine, we wanted to find ways to bring them quality wines at lower prices,” a spokesman f

Low-cost carrier Jeju Air is focusing its energy this year on creating a foundation for strong, sustainable growth by expanding its fleet and flights, the Aekyung Group-owned airline said Friday.Last month, the airline added three new destinations to its portfolio including Sapporo in Japan, Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, and Phuket in Thailand. The addition of flights to Sapporo gives Jeju Air the largest number of Korea-Japan routes among low-cost carriers in both countries.A Jeju Air plane (Jeju

Consumer spending on tobacco has nearly reached former levels as the effect of the tobacco price hike wears off, with only low-income smokers continuing to reduce spending on cigarettes, data showed Thursday.According to numbers from Statistics Korea, the average household of two or more members spent 23,000 won each month on tobacco in the second quarter of this year. This marks a 10.9 percent increase from last year.The data showed a significant difference in cigarette spending between high-in

A music concert will be held at Lotte World Tower in Seoul to thank construction workers for their hard work on the tower, according to Lotte Corp. on Thursday.The “Concert Celebrating the Sweat and Passion of Lotte World Tower‘s Small Heroes,” which invited 1,800 people including construction workers, Lotte World Tower employees, Lotte World Mall employees and their families, will be held at the Lotte Concert Hall in the tower on Sept. 21.  Construction workers pose on-site at the Lotte World T

The government has postponed its decision on Google’s request to export map information from Korea to allow further review of the issues, the Transport Ministry announced Wednesday following a meeting of a pan-government review committee.The consideration period before the final decision will be extended another 60 days until Nov. 23. “After in-depth discussions about the effect of exporting map information on national security and the spatial information industry, it was agreed that the final d

Consumers who buy products directly from overseas sellers found prices to be about 30 percent lower than when buying from Korean sellers, according to data from a survey by the Korea Consumer Agency.The KCA survey asked 1,000 consumers who had bought products directly from overseas sellers in the past year. Four-fifths of respondents said they used direct shopping because of lower prices. According to the survey, the highest discounts achieved through direct shopping reached 36.5 percent for chi