Lotte Duty Free opens Kansai shop

Lotte Duty Free Shop said it opened a store in Japan’s Kansai International Airport yesterday as part of its drive to expand overseas.

Lotte said that the store, which is at the closest airport to Osaka, will mostly sell Korean brands of cosmetics, fashion accessories, tobacco and liquor. The selection of products will be aimed at Japanese and Chinese consumers.

The duty-free shop, which has the rights to operate until 2020, is the first to be opened in Japan by a Korean company. Lotte invested 3 billion won ($2.95 million) in the 330-square-meter (3,552-square-foot) Kansai shop and the opening was attended by actress Choi Ji-woo.

Lotte has also opened stores in Guam, Singapore and Indonesia, helping it to become the world’s fourth-largest duty-free chain.

Sales at the Jakarta branch, which opened last year, surpassed all of Lotte Duty Free’s stores in and outside of Korea. That success pushed Lotte toward opening its store at the Guam airport in July.

In Japan, Lotte also runs several joint-venture duty-free shops and boutiques in partnership with Japan Airlines (JAL) at Narita and Haneda airports in Tokyo.

Lotte will also open a duty-free shop at Lotte World Mall in Jamsil, southern Seoul, next to Lotte World Tower, a 123-story skyscraper.

Lee Hong-kyun, chief executive of Lotte Duty Free Shop, said that the Kansai duty-free shop will contribute to tourism in Osaka.

“Along with the duty-free shop, we will seek to promote tourism in Osaka,” the CEO said. “We’d like to contribute to the local economy and increase momentum in tourism between Japan and Korea.”

BY PARK EUN-JEE [ejpark@joongang.co.kr]