Shinsegae's Sweet Park is Korea's new mecca for dessert lovers

Industry

Published: 15 Feb. 2024, 16:28

Shinsegae's Sweet Park is Korea's new mecca for dessert lovers

Shinsegae Department Store's Gangnam branch in southern Seoul opens the country's largest dessert area on Thursday, called Sweet Park. [SHINSEGAE DEPARTMENT STORE]

Shinsegae Department Store opened a dessert area at its Gangnam branch in southern Seoul on Thursday, featuring a diverse selection ranging from globally recognized treats such as Pierre Marcolini and Gariguette to traditional Korean delicacies.

Named Sweet Park, the newly unveiled dessert destination on the department store's basement floor spans approximately 5,300 square meters (57,050 square feet) and houses 43 brands, making it the largest dessert-selling area in Korea, according to Shinsegae.

Shinsegae's Gangnam branch becomes first Korean store to crack 3 trillion won

Sweet Park also houses the first Korean shops for several renowned foreign dessert brands, among which are Pierre Marcolini, a distinguished Belgium chocolatier, Mille & Un, a Parisian bakery operated by a Korean baker, and the Japanese pastry pie specialty shop Gariguette.

Other brands that set up shop at Sweet Park include the American burger chain Five Guys and the New York sandwich brand Lenwich.

Pierre Marcolini, a Belgian chocolatier, opens its first Korean branch at Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam's Sweet Park on Thursday. [SHINSEGAE DEPARTMENT STORE]

Situated next to the Gangnam Bus Terminal, Sweet Park aims to attract the bustling foot traffic in the area and serve as an inviting gateway into the department store.

The Korean retail powerhouse emphasized the effort it put into expanding walkways, seating and leisure areas and designing terraced restaurants surrounding a central garden to evoke "the ambience of European squares."

Shinsegae Gangnam is one of the few single department stores worldwide to reach an annual gross revenue of 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion), following Harrods in London and Isetan Shinjuku in Tokyo.

With its food hall undergoing a renewal for the first time since 2009, the department store seeks to enhance its appeal with Sweet Park serving as the inaugural zone.

A specialty wine area and a premium food hall will open in turn, with the goal of completing a new food section measuring 19,834 square meters — the largest food hall by size in Korea — by the first half of 2025.

"We envision Gangnam branch's food hall will rival iconic food sections in renowned department stores worldwide such as The Food Hall at Harrods in London or Le Gourmet at Galeries Lafayette in Paris [...] aiming to further elevate the status of the store," a Shinsegae official said.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]