At 11 a.m. on the 9th, Musinsa Kicks (MUSINSA KICKS) in Hongdae, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Inside and outside the store, customers hoping to buy limited-edition sneakers lined up with numbered tickets. Some visitors even wrote multiple alternatives in their phone memos in advance in case their preferred color or size was sold out when their turn came.
Musinsa Kicks, which opened that day, marked the opening with a limited-edition sneaker release. It was the "Unearfected x Asics Gel-Nimbus 10.1" model that sold out in 10 minutes after its launch on the Musinsa online store in Nov. last year. A Musinsa staffer on site said around 11:25 a.m., "All prepared quantities have been exhausted." On the 10th, the next day, the release of Vans' limited model "LX Old Skool 36-Souvenir Warm Brown" was scheduled.
Limited-edition sneakers are Musinsa's identity. Musinsa began in 2001 as an online shoe community called "a place with a ton of shoe photos." Chief Executive Cho Man-ho, then a high school student, was a "sneaker geek (maniac)" who collected, shared, and exchanged photos of new and limited-edition sneakers that were hard to find in Korea.
The "KICKS" in the store name is also a term sneaker enthusiasts, including Cho, use to refer to shoes. It conveys the idea of a space to experience sneaker culture beyond a simple shoe select shop. The most representative aspect is the culture of collecting and transactions of limited editions or symbolic models.
Among them, Cho's favorite sneaker brand is Nike. It is well known that Cho sold his personally collected limited-edition Nike Air Force 1s secondhand and used the proceeds as initial server operating funds for Musinsa.com. Cho announced Nike's official entry into Musinsa in 2024 and personally shared the anecdote in a message to employees.
Cho's affection for Nike was fully evident in the store. Immediately upon entering the first-floor entrance, sneakers were spotlighted like museum exhibits alongside the Nike logo. The walls were set up as a "shoe wall" filled with dozens of pairs. Besides Nike, mainly Adidas and Hoka sneakers and running shoes were displayed.
The second floor is organized around "Next Outdoor," a curated selection of outdoor and gorpcore products. Gorpcore refers to a style that naturally incorporates outdoor shoes and apparel into everyday wear. There is also a space called the "Bag & Cap Club," which gathers bags and hats that pair well with shoes.
On the third floor, leather shoes such as loafers and boots and popular shoes from new brands Musinsa is watching are on display. As in other Musinsa offline stores, brand logos and products have QR codes attached. By accessing the QR, shoppers can check member prices, in-store inventory status, and reviews in real time.
Musinsa plans to open additional Musinsa Kicks stores in key commercial districts such as Seongsu and Gangnam in Seoul in the first half of this year. Its biggest rival is Japan's ABC-Mart, which maintains a dominant lead in Korea's shoe select shop market. While ABC-Mart firmly holds the top spot in sales and store count, U.S. Foot Locker and JD Sports have withdrawn from the domestic market.