Seongsu May Be Trendy, But Yeouido Is Techy: Where To Go If You're A Gadget Lover

 
"Before, pop-up stores were mainly about K-pop artists or fashion brands so young that I could never imagine wearing them," said an office worker surnamed Huh in her 30s as she walked out of Xiaomi's Mi Store in Yeouido on Wednesday with her colleagues.
 
"These days, it's nice to see more tech-related stores and pop-ups coming to Yeouido so I can explore during my lunch time."
 
Yeouido is quickly emerging as Seoul's new tech hub, attracting global tech brands such as Dyson and Apple, which have opened offline stores in what was once considered merely a business park.
 
The financial district located on the island in the Han River in western Seoul used to be dubbed a ghost town on weekends, with eateries closing due to a lack of foot traffic. But that isn't the case anymore.
 
 
China's Xiaomi is the latest to join the crowd.
 
It opened its first offline store in Korea in Yeouido's IFC Mall, offering more than 200 products — from a 1-liter (34-ounce) water bottle priced at 10,000 won ($7.35) to its latest Xiaomi 15 premium smartphone priced over 1 million won. It started its preopening on Tuesday, with the official launch date set for Saturday. 
 
Its ambitions in the Korean market are evident as it integrated an after-sales service counter inside the store to dispel the widespread perception that foreign brands, especially the Chinese ones, provide poor customer service.
 
Johnny Wu, chief of Xiaomi's Korean unit, said Wednesday it picked Yeouido as the location of its first offline store as the neighborhood draws both family-oriented customers during weekends as well as younger generations on weekdays.
 
Wu said this offline store represents Xiaomi's "premium strategy," part of its goal of shaking off its value-for-money image resulting from a low-quality issue. The store prominently features its 1 million won Xiaomi 15 smartphone and 3 million won smart TV.
 
 
At the nearby The Hyundai Seoul department store, a pop-up store of Semokey, a keyboard shop, was brimming with visitors on Wednesday, the last day of its weeklong residency. The long queue at the entrance was just to register for the waiting line, and actually getting in could take three to four hours, according to the staff.
 
"I came down to register for the line and will revisit by the time I finish working. I think that would be just about the right time for my turn," said an office worker surnamed Kim who works at a nearby insurance company.
 
Next to Xiaomi in IFC Mall is Dyson's first Korean offline store, which opened in 2021, dubbed the demo store where trained experts are stationed to encourage visitors to experience the range of products. It remains the branch that offers the widest range of products and the newest among the British electronics company's Korean outlets.
 
 
Apple also opened its second Korean store in IFC Mall in 2021.
 
LG Electronics operates a retail shop at The Hyundai Seoul that remains one of its top branches by revenue, a spokesperson for the Korean electronics firm said.
 
Yeouido's tech-savvy transformation stems from its high concentration of offices, mostly finance, where high-income white-collar workers browse products during their lunch hours and before heading home.
 
"Tech and electronics companies would want to target office workers in Yeouido, who have strong purchasing power as well as interest in gadgets and other electronics products," said Choi Cheol, a professor of consumer economics at Sookmyung Women's University.
 
"Compared to Seongsu, which also brims with new stores and pop-ups, Yeouido's consumer group is older and more tech-savvy. Also, it is located literally in the middle of Seoul, which raises accessibility for people from other neighborhoods."
 

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]