Lotte Shopping looks far and wide for hires as business slumps

Lotte Department Store in Jung District, central Seoul [LOTTE SHOPPING]

Lotte Shopping is continuing to recruit from the outside, something the company has traditionally been wary of doing, to survive in the face of brutal competition.

Lotte Department Store, operated by Lotte Shopping, appointed Lee Hyo-wan, former General Manager of Givenchy Korea, to head its MD1 division, which deals with sales of luxury brands.

Lee is the first women in the position and started her post Wednesday.

She worked as the general manger of the fashion travel retail division at Chanel Korea and as a director of the retail division at Fendi Korea.

Major positions have traditionally gone to people working for Lotte Shopping or related companies, but with business weak, the company has been more willing to consider the employment of outsiders.

Lotte Shopping's revenue fell 2.7 percent on year to 15.6 trillion in 2021. Its net loss was 286.8 billion won, compared to a loss of 686.6 billion won the previous year.

Its stock is down 33.9 percent over the past year, far more than the 12.3 percent drop in the Kospi.

Last November, the company increased the number of divisions from six to 12, and many of the new divisions were to be led by outsiders.

Jin Seung-hyun, former director of Balenciaga Korea's retail division, was appointed as head of Lotte Department Store's luxury and contemporary designer division. Lee Ji-hyun, former marketing head at Louis Vuitton Korea, joined the department store as the head of its marketing and communication division.

The two also started working at Lotte Department Store on Wednesday.

"Those recruited have worked in the luxury industry for over 20 years and acquired professional experience," said a spokesperson for Lotte Department Store. "We scouted them to enhance our expertise in sales and marketing."

Jung Jun-ho, formerly working at Shinsegae Department Store and Shinsegae International, has been Lotte Department Store's CEO since November last year.

He is the first to be appointed to that position who has not spent his entire career at Lotte Shopping or related companies.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]