Topten Revamps Daegu Flagship With Digital Price Tags, Local Art

DAEGU — In the middle of Daegu's Dongseong-ro shopping district on the 21st, the long storefront of Topten's Dongseong-ro outlet stood out among the surrounding buildings. Inside, product racks were spaced generously across an open floor, with digital screens installed throughout. A mirrored ceiling reflected the AIRtech garments lining the walls, adding to the sense of openness.

Topten, the SPA brand operated by Shinsung Tongsang, will reopen its renovated Dongseong-ro store in Daegu on the 23rd. The company plans to strengthen its offline business by combining digital technology with displays set at eye level and content drawing on Daegu's local character. Rather than a simple interior refresh, the project reorganizes how the store operates around the customer experience, marking the start of what the company calls its "Topten 2.0" strategy.

The most visible change is the digital shopping environment. Topten applied a full digital operating system to a store for the first time, replacing the paper price tags and product notices commonly found on racks with electronic shelf labels (ESL) and digital screens, allowing price and promotion changes to be reflected quickly. When a customer holds a phone to an electronic price tag on a rack, near-field communication (NFC) tagging automatically displays detailed product information and promotional offers on the screen.

For product placement, the company introduced a new display framework it calls "System Fixture 2.0," focused on making items easier to browse. Rather than simply increasing the number of items on display, the store adjusted display heights and shelf spacing to match customers' eye level and the flow of foot traffic. Lighting varies by area so that colors and fabrics show clearly, and wall display space was expanded substantially so shoppers can take in the colors and sizes available in each product line at a glance.

Content reflecting local character is another point of difference. Topten defines Daegu as an "essential city" where a textile industry tradition coexists with contemporary urban culture, and it created a space in collaboration with local artists drawing on the city's history as a textile hub. Throughout the store, the company installed product photo spreads shot against Daegu street scenes, along with content on the daily lives of people working in the city and on baseball, the city's signature sport.

The company said the renovation marks a shift in its offline strategy, from expanding store numbers to improving the customer experience. It chose Dongseong-ro as the anchor location because the district is well suited to gauging customer response. Sim Pan-seop, head of Topten's store operations division, said Dongseong-ro "is the best place to communicate with customers and get feedback," adding that the design "began with the question of how customers experience the brand and the products in the store."

Topten plans to upgrade the shopping environment at 27 stores in the second half of this year and to extend the customer-focused store strategy to major downtown districts including Gangnam-daero and Myeong-dong next year. Sim said customer satisfaction had been high at stores upgraded in the first half, with sales at some locations growing 15% to 30% or more, and added that the company "will focus on creating spaces where customers can easily find and experience the products they want."