"This year, Ashley achieved 500 billion won in annual sales. But now is the time to talk about the essence that matters more than numbers."
Deputy Minister Im Hee-jo, head of product marketing for Ashley at E-Land Group Eats, said at the House of Ahsley media preopening event for the Ashley Queens popup store (temporary shop) held at 1 p.m. on the 19th in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, "We sought the answer in expanding the brand experience."
Ashley Queens, a family restaurant and buffet brand operated by E-Land Group Eats, unveiled the exhibition-style popup store House of Ashley first at its Seongsu location ahead of its full opening in March. It combines an exhibition of E-Land Group Museum holdings with representative food and beverage (F&B) experiences, including chef-collaboration menus. It presents the brand worldview and direction.
It is unusual for a buffet brand to run an exhibition-style popup store. The move appears aimed at using Seongsu's retail district—where popups, exhibitions, and brand experiences are commonplace—as a base to widen contact with younger generations, redefine the Ashley Queens brand image, and raise awareness. House of Ashley will operate through the 25th of next month. A E-Land Group Eats official said, "It is the first time we are revealing the brand worldview and direction in a popup format before opening a full store."
The exhibition unveiled this time is built on the Ashley brand worldview. Centered on the story of three generations in an American household—grandmother "Catherine," mother "Evelyn," and daughter "Ashley"—it divides the culture and sensibilities passed down through generations into six spaces.
The first space visitors encounter, grandmother Catherine's, symbolically displays "quilts" throughout. The quilt is a medium that connects family and community and serves as a device that visually conveys the "home-cooked comfort" Ashley Queens has emphasized. The space also features the "yo-yo quilt" used at the White House by former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife, from the E-Land Group Museum collection.
In mother Evelyn's space, the wedding plate and dress fabric used when President John F. Kennedy and spouse Jacqueline Kennedy married were on display. The space was also filled with American cultural archives that the E-Land Group Museum has collected over 30 years, including a classic typewriter, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and a license plate collection.
The final space displays a movie poster and costume props from the adaptation of the American novel "Gone with the Wind." It reflects the setup that grandmother Catherine took daughter Ashley's name from this film. An E-Land Group Eats official explained, "Through objects with political and cultural symbolism, we aimed to show American middle-class family culture and the Ashley brand worldview."
Food content is also considered a core of this popup. On site, a menu board for "Ashley's Table," which visually interprets the chef-collaboration menu, was unveiled. The main dishes collaborated on by Chef Oh Se-deuk—"premium Korean beef, known as hanwoo beef Wellington burger" and "pulled pork chimichanga"—and the dessert "Snow mille-feuille," collaborated on by Chef Park Jun-woo, were introduced with photos.
Chef Oh, who made the Wellington burger on site, said, "Beef Wellington is a dish that families in Western countries gather to eat at year-end or Christmas," and added, "Collaboration is not about each bringing one dish to the table; it has to blend together into one outcome. We thought about how to interpret this within the Ashley brand."
Kim Hyun-jung, the overall PM (project manager) at E-Land Group Eats who planned and directed House of Ashley, said, "Based on customer reactions to the popup, we plan to refine the menu and staging and apply them to future stores."