On the 28th at 3 p.m., the Handsome TIME flagship store on the luxury street in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. Walking into the first floor of the building, which runs from two basement levels to five floors above ground, lifestyle accessories were displayed alongside women's wear. TIME products are arranged on the second and third floors, and if you take the escalator along the shopping path up to the fourth floor, you reach Café TIME. It is a space where you can enjoy brunch menus, coffee, and wine. At each table, customers were seated, drinking or chatting. It is structured so that customers naturally move to the café and stay after finishing their shopping.
Lately, fashion and lifestyle brands are expanding customer touchpoints by operating cafés and food and beverage (F&B) experience spaces beyond simply selling products. Not only in Korea but across the global industry, they are moving beyond a focus on "wearing" to encompass eating and drinking experiences, offering a holistic lifestyle. As e-commerce spreads and the reason for offline stores to exist wavers, brands are rewriting survival strategies with space and experience as their weapons.
Handsome, a fashion company under Hyundai Department Store Group, opened a large flagship store for the women's wear brand TIME on the luxury street in Cheongdam-dong in Nov. and unveiled its own F&B brand Café TIME alongside it. At a total of 1,858 square meters (about 562 pyeong), it is the largest among the roughly 1,300 stores and flagship locations Handsome operates.
A Handsome official said, "In the two months after opening, the TIME flagship store has sailed smoothly, achieving more than 20% above the initial sales target," adding, "TIME's heritage, built over 30 years, has been realized in space, and we see it rising as a must-visit site among its thick fan base. Café TIME has also emerged as a hot spot, filling all seats at lunchtime within a month of opening."
Earlier, in 2024, Handsome opened the global lifestyle select shop Kith in Seongsu-dong and, together with it, launched the New York brunch restaurant Sadelle's and the cereal ice cream bar Kith Treats.
Brand incubator HAGO HAUS is also investing aggressively in F&B. Since late 2023, HAGO HAUS has been fully operating the German specialty coffee brand Bonanza Coffee and expanding its business scope. It had previously run a café in Hannam-dong, but when Matin Kim, a fashion brand invested in by HAGO HAUS, expanded and relocated its flagship store to Seongsu-dong, Bonanza Coffee was brought into the same space. It is also entering large malls one after another, such as Lotte Department Store Incheon and Starfield Suwon. The strategy is to combine fashion stores and cafés to present the brand experience as a single lifestyle.
Luxury brands are moving in a similar way. While they have long operated cafés and fine dining at home and abroad, they have been expanding this more aggressively in recent years.
Louis Vuitton, which operates Le Café Louis Vuitton in Gangnam, Seoul, added Le Café Louis Vuitton Shinsegae The Reserve at the Shinsegae Department Store main branch in Nov. The JP at Louis Vuitton Restaurant, run by Chef Park Jeong-hyeon of New York's two-Michelin-star Atomix, also opened this month. Gucci likewise moved and has been operating Gucci Osteria Seoul, which opened in Itaewon in 2022, in Cheongdam since Sept. last year.
Sales are not the only reason fashion corporations are pouring effort into F&B. Some say F&B outlets do not significantly boost revenue. An industry source said, "It has become commonplace for luxury brands to operate restaurants and cafés around the world," adding, "More often than not, they invest in F&B to elevate brand image rather than sales."
They operate F&B stores to extend customer dwell time and increase the density of the experience. As online shopping has become routine, the core competitiveness of offline stores has shifted from simply purchasing goods to how deeply they imprint the brand's worldview. Cafés and multiuse spaces are taking root as devices for building long-term relationships with customers.
Research firm Savills noted, "If several brands each operate an outstanding fine-dining restaurant, it can further elevate the status of a street where these brands cluster and positively affect the entire surrounding area," adding, "Consumers want to experience brands in new ways, directly feel the quality, and form a sense of affinity with the brand."
Exposure on social media is also an important factor. To provide memorable, beautiful, and enjoyable experiences to consumers, brands must invest heavily in space and content planning. These concepts are designed to be shared naturally on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Through this, brands aim to expand reach and awareness and, further, strengthen brand equity itself.
Forbes in the United States reported, "The post-pandemic era brought new changes to retail experiences, and brands set out to break preconceptions and offer consumers unique experiences," adding, "Entering food service has become a popular strategy to maintain competitiveness and offer differentiated customer experiences. The key is what new attempts brands will make to delight and draw in customers."