On the morning of the 3rd, when a cold wave advisory was issued for parts of the country. At Sounds Forest, a 3,300-square-meter exhibition space on the fifth floor of The Hyundai Seoul store in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, the Christmas (Seongtanjeol) mood was already in full swing. The interior, decorated as if a snow-covered medieval forest had been transported indoors, featured cottages (Cottage; traditional European country houses) made of solid wood. Each building was filled with various gift and letter decorations that symbolize Christmas.
In the center, large trees sparkled under soft pastel lighting, and carols flowed from every corner where footsteps fell. Visitors to the exhibition often showed happy expressions as they took "proof shots" here and there.
Hyundai Department Store has been unveiling a Christmas-themed display under the theme of "Harry's Christmas workshop (Atelier de Noël)" at department stores and outlet locations nationwide since the 1st of this month. This year's narrative tells how, when Santa and Rudolph catch a cold and cannot deliver the handwritten letters and gifts to children, Hyundai Department Store's winter mascot character "Baby Bear Harry" takes on the task instead.
For this winter exhibition, the concept was finalized in Mar., and a team of just over 10 designers sourced and produced everything themselves, from the interior buildings to all the props. Jeong Min-gyu, lead designer on the VMD team at Hyundai Department Store, said, "In an era when a single click can deliver a gift, we wanted to once again reflect on the warmth of hands and the heartfelt time that is increasingly forgotten."
About 20% to 30% of admission to The Hyundai Seoul Christmas exhibition is by advance reservation, with the rest handled on-site by waiting in line. In the first Naver advance reservation held on the 23rd of last month, about 45,000 simultaneous users flocked in and it sold out in 30 minutes.
Although there are still about two months left until Christmas, domestic department store companies, which focus on offline sales, are quickly launching Christmas marketing. Lotte Department Store will turn the lawn plaza at World Park at Lotte World Tower in Jamsil into the "Lotte Town Christmas Market" for 46 days from the 20th to Jan. 4 next year. It will create the atmosphere of an authentic European Christmas market through various brand collaboration booths and food booths, and is also preparing a variety of events such as the "Heart Light Show," a moving heart lighting ceremony, and a "Snow Shower" reminiscent of a snowy Christmas.
Since the 31st of last month, Lotte Department Store has also been showcasing a "Christmas facade" using a total of 30,000 LED lights on the exterior walls of its Myeong-dong main store and Jamsil store. This year, it collaborated with French illustrator Nathalie Lété, known for flamboyant and distinctive colors, to visually present a message of comfort and hope under the theme "Sweet Holiday."
Starting on the 7th, Shinsegae Department Store will unveil a Christmas-themed video at Shinsegae Square (media facade) at the main store in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul. To enhance immersion, it expanded the screen on which the video is shown by 61.3 square meters from last year to a total of 1,353.64 square meters (about 409 pyeong).
In addition, Shinsegae Department Store will create a tree road on the first floor of the Gangnam store, decorated with large trees, and install hundreds of thousands of lights in the House of Shinsegae food hall to evoke a golden Milky Way. At Daejeon Shinsegae Art & Science, an 8-meter-tall giant tree will decorate the first-floor lobby.
Department stores are swiftly focusing on Christmas marketing to increase customer dwell time and conversion to sales. In fact, during Nov.–Dec., when Christmas marketing is underway, "proof shots" with store-specific hashtags often go up on social media and spread by word of mouth. Since 2023, Lotte Department Store has been setting up the Jamsil Lotte Town area as a Christmas market. Visitors reached 240,000 in 2023 and 400,000 in 2024.
Hyundai Department Store has been holding Christmas-themed exhibitions at The Hyundai Seoul since 2021. Cumulative visitors have exceeded 1 million so far, and it expects several hundred thousand to visit again this year. Last year's The Hyundai Seoul Christmas event drew a weekday daily average of 6,000 visitors and just over 10,000 on weekends.
An industry official said, "The fourth quarter is considered peak season, accounting for 30% of total sales at department stores, and experience-based marketing themed around Christmas is highly effective in driving store visits and purchases."