Fashion platforms that grew mainly online are accelerating their push into brick-and-mortar retail. They are creating spaces where shoppers can try out brands that gained popularity online, while also adding specialty stores focused on specific product categories such as bags, caps and stationery. The moves extend beyond short-term pop-ups into permanent stores.
Musinsa opened the second location of Musinsa Bag & Cap Club, a bag and cap specialty select shop, at Lotte Mall Vellitown Cheongnyangni in Seoul's Dongdaemun District this month, according to the fashion industry on the 25th. The opening comes about six months after the first store debuted at Seoul Forest in April. It is the first time Bag & Cap Club has entered a large mixed-use shopping mall.
The store spans about 125 square meters, or 38 pyeong, and carries 94 brands including New Era and JanSport. It is laid out so customers can try on bags and caps that have drawn interest online, and it also offers collaboration items sold exclusively at Musinsa, such as the New Era running cap and the JanSport x LG Twins bag. Musinsa plans to broaden its customer base beyond shoppers in their 20s and 30s to include families.
29CM, Musinsa's fashion and lifestyle platform, is also expanding its store network. After opening the second 29 Home location in Seoul's Seongsu-dong in January, it opened another store at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo in August. The strategy is to widen offline touchpoints so customers can examine and buy home and lifestyle products previously sold online.
The second 29 Home store in Seongsu-dong has performed well as a stationery-focused outlet. From Sept. 18 through the 11th of this month, transaction value in the stationery category rose more than tenfold from the preceding comparable period. More than 60% of the merchandise is stationery, and customers can test items such as pens and stamps.
W Concept opened its first standalone flagship store, W Hannam, in Hannam-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul, on the 16th of this month. The store occupies about 384 square meters, or 116 pyeong, across four floors from the first basement level to the third floor and houses more than 80 fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands, including emerging designer labels.
W Concept plans to use the store to raise awareness of brands it has discovered and nurtured online. Beyond sales, the space will serve as a venue for live commerce shoots and brand marketing. To mark the opening, the company is running events tied to 18 nearby brand stores in Hannam-dong, part of a broader effort to work with the surrounding retail district.
Zigzag, operated by Kakao Style, ran the Zigzag Express pop-up store in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, from the 16th to the 18th. It was the first time the platform held an offline pop-up together with the online shops listed on it. Fifty online retailers took part, presenting about 640 products, including 11 shops that sell exclusively through Zigzag. Fitting rooms let customers try on clothing they had previously seen only online, and the event also featured experiences linked to Zigzag's expedited Jikjin delivery service.
About 6,500 people visited during the run, and roughly 4,000 advance-reservation tickets sold out within three hours of booking opening. One in three visitors bought a product on site. Zigzag increased the number of fitting rooms to 24 from 10 to handle demand. Favorites for Slow List, one of the participating retailers, rose 216% from the same day of the preceding week.
Ably is also working on plans to open its first offline showroom in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, this year. The idea is to bring user data accumulated online and AI-based personalized recommendation technology into a physical space. The showroom would rotate products reflecting users' tastes and preferences, covering not only fashion but also lifestyle categories that appeal to younger consumers.
"Fashion platforms are expanding their offline business to connect the customers and brands they have secured online to actual stores," an industry official said. "Consumers can check the materials and fit of products they had seen only online, and listed brands can reach new customers without running their own stores."