At Lotte Mall Belly Town Cheongnyangni, outside Cheongnyangni Station in Seoul's Dongdaemun District, a long line formed outside the main entrance from early morning on the 23rd, hours before the doors opened. It is the first new shopping mall Lotte Department Store has opened in Seoul in 15 years. Many of those waiting were in their 20s and 30s. Some posed for photos in front of a large Bellygom sculpture installed at the entrance, visibly excited as they waited for the opening.
When the doors opened at 10:30 a.m., the scene inside looked different from a conventional department store. The first thing to draw the eye was a large media cube featuring Bellygom, Lotte Group's signature character. An animated Bellygom greeted shoppers on the screen, while video displays and sculptures placed throughout the mall added a sense of movement to the space.
The core strategy behind the store is an "ultra-compact mall" aimed at younger consumers. Lotte Mall Belly Town Cheongnyangni spans one basement level to four above-ground floors with about 17,850 square meters of retail space, making it the smallest of the malls Lotte Department Store operates. Instead, the company sought differentiation by filling roughly 80% of its 50-odd tenant brands with stores that are either the first of their kind in Korean retail or the first or largest in northeastern Seoul. Rather than spreading a wide range of brands across a large footprint, it concentrated brands favored by young shoppers and experience-driven content into limited space.
Among them, Gentz Bakery, known as one of Busan's three leading bakeries, opened its first Seoul location. Liquor specialist Liquor Locker, global tea brand Chagee and fashion accessories store Musinsa Bag & Cap Club also opened their first stores here. Rather than the brands commonly found in existing department stores, the mall actively recruited specialty shops aimed at younger tastes. Olive Young, Daiso and Off Beauty were built out as the largest outlets in the Cheongnyangni commercial district.
Reflecting that ultra-compact approach, the floors were laid out by target customer group. The first floor houses food, beverage and lifestyle brands, while the second centers on K-fashion, sportswear and beauty brands. The third floor places VIPS, Topten and pop-up stores to capture shopping and dining demand from families, and the fourth floor emphasizes experiences and play, concentrating Fun Square, specialty stores for character goods, figures and plastic models, and arcade facilities.
The Bellygom character is used throughout the space to add visual interest, down to details such as family restrooms decorated with the character. Sound systems were installed to play music matched to the mood of each zone, and Lotte Department Store's signature scent was applied in rest areas. The aim was to create a space where customers linger and enjoy themselves rather than simply buy goods.
The opening also carries weight within Lotte Department Store's store operation strategy. It presents a new store-opening model that scales down footprints to fit the characteristics of a commercial district and concentrates core content, even as the company clears out less profitable locations. Lotte Department Store closed its Bundang store in March this year. Its Konkuk University Star City store is also set to close in October 2028, when its lease expires.
In Cheongnyangni, by contrast, the company is expanding around the new mall. Lotte Department Store plans to link Belly Town Cheongnyangni with its existing Lotte Department Store Cheongnyangni outlet and tie in nearby affiliate retail facilities including Lotte Mart and Lotte Himart, developing the area into Seoul's third "Lotte Town" after Myeongdong and Jamsil. The approach is read as a strategy to concentrate resources on commercial districts with strong growth potential rather than simply increasing the number of stores.
Jung Hyun-suk, chief executive of Lotte Department Store, who visited the site that day, said the store is "a compact store, and the starting point of Lotte's shopping mall strategy." He added, "We plan to continue expanding malls in Daegu, Sangam, Songdo and Jeonju going forward."