Shinsegae facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Shinsegae Inc.

Native name	주식회사 신세계
Type	Public
Traded as	KRX: 004170
Industry	Retail
Predecessor	Mitsukoshi Keijō (Gyeongseong) Store
Founded	9 December 1955; 69 years ago (1955-12-09)
Founder	Original store acquired by Lee Byung-chul
Headquarters	63 Sogong-ro, Jung District, Seoul, South Korea
Area served	South Korea
Key people	Lee Myung-hee (Chairwoman) Chung Yong-jin (Vice Chairman) Cha Jeong-ho (CEO)
Owner	Estate of Lee Myung-hee (28.56%) National Pension Service (12.16%)
Parent	Samsung (1955–1997) Independent (1997–present)
Subsidiaries	E-mart

Shinsegae (Hangul: 신세계; Hanja: 新世界, KRX: 004170) is a major company in South Korea. It is famous for its large department stores and many other businesses. Shinsegae's main office is in Seoul, South Korea.

The company is part of the Shinsegae Group, which is one of South Korea's top retail groups. It is one of the three biggest department store companies in Korea, along with Lotte and Hyundai Department Store. Shinsegae's biggest store is in Centum City, Busan. In 2009, this store became the world's largest department store. It is even bigger than Macy's famous store in New York City.

Shinsegae was also the first company in South Korea to offer credit cards. They had their own charge card from 1967 to 2000. Later, they sold this part of their business to KorAm Bank.

Shinsegae used to be part of the Samsung Group. But in the 1990s, it became its own independent company. The current Chairwoman, Lee Myung-hee, is the daughter of Samsung's founder, Lee Byung-chul. Shinsegae owns popular brands like Shinsegae department stores and E-Mart. It is currently the largest retail company in South Korea.

Shinsegae's Story

Main store in Seoul when it was a branch of Tokyo's Mitsukoshi

The main Shinsegae store in Seoul is the oldest department store in Korea. It first opened in 1930. Back then, it was a branch of a Japanese department store called Mitsukoshi. At that time, Korea was under Japanese rule.

In 1945, after Korea became independent, Lee Byung-chull, who later founded Samsung, bought the store. He renamed it Donghwa Department Store. During the Korean War (1950–1953), the American army used it as a supply store. In 1963, the store was given its current name, Shinsegae. Today, this old building is a place for luxury shopping.

In 2021, Shinsegae bought a professional baseball team called the SK Wyverns from SK. They renamed the team the SSG Landers. They paid about 135.2 billion won for the team and its facilities.

Daejeon Shinsegae Art & Science

The Shinsegae store in Daejeon opened in 2021 and is very special. It's not just a department store. It also has art and science areas, a hotel, and offices. It's like a huge complex!

This large building cost 600 billion won to build. It has two main parts: the Podium (the department store area) and the Tower.

Podium Area

The Podium part of the store includes:

• A Food Hall in the basement, where you can find all sorts of delicious food.
• The main floor has fancy brands for accessories, jewelry, and beauty products. The designers wanted it to feel like a beautiful old Italian villa.
• The second floor sells luxury brand clothes for men and women. This area was designed to look like a modern sculpture park.
• The third floor has more fashion. The fourth floor is for sports gear, golf, outdoor clothes, underwear, and children's items.
• The fifth floor has a food hall called Verona Street. It's designed to look like a street in Verona, Italy.

Tower Building

The Tower building is 43 stories tall and 193 meters high. It has:

• A 171-room hotel on 11 floors.
• Art Space 193, which is an observatory 193 meters high. It features a colorful art display by artist Ólafur Elíasson.
• Shinsegae Nexperium, a science museum. It focuses on robots, biotechnology, and space. This museum was created with KAIST, a research university.
• Daejeon Expo Aquarium, an aquarium that combines media art. It has a huge tank with about 20,000 fish from 250 different types. The aquarium uses multimedia art based on the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon.

Other Fun Places

The complex also has other cool spots:

• A Lego Shop for all Lego fans.
• A Dolby Cinema Megabox with 7 screens and 943 seats for watching movies.
• The Shinsegae Academy, which offers educational content and online lectures.
• The Shinsegae Gallery, a space for art exhibitions.
• On the 6th floor, there's a glass window gallery and art terrace with a great view of Gapcheon.

Daejeong Store (Gallery)

Centum City Store (Gallery)

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  Exterior

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  Lightwell

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  Sky Garden

Shinsegae Stores Across Korea

Shinsegae has many stores in different cities. Here are some of them:

Store Name		Size (sq m)	City	Notes	Photo
English	Korean
Centum City	센텀시티	293,905	Busan	This is the world's largest department store.
Uijeongbu	의정부점	145,000	Uijeongbu	Located in Gyeonggi-do province.
Daejeon Shinsegae Art & Science	대전신세계 Art & Science	88,572 (department store area)	Daejeon	Opened in 2021. It's a huge complex with art, science, and a hotel.
Myeongdong Main Store	본점 본관, 신관	56,528	Seoul	This is the main store in Jung-gu.
Yeongdeungpo	영등포점 A관, B관, 명품관	43,305	Seoul	Located in Times Square (shopping mall).
Gangnam	강남점 본관, 신관	43,305	Seoul	This store makes over 1 billion USD in sales each year, the highest of any Shinsegae store.
Masan	마산점	26,115	Masan	Located in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do province.
Gwangju	광주신세계	22,611	Gwangju	Located in Seo-gu.
Daegu	대구신세계		Daegu	Located at Dongdaegu Station. It has an aquarium and many restaurants.
Hanam	하남점		Hanam	Located inside Starfield Hanam shopping mall. This mall also has a cinema, bookstore, and indoor water park.

Shinsegae also has a small store at Incheon International Airport.

E-Mart: The Discount Store

E-Mart (이마트) is a big chain of discount stores. It is a part of Shinsegae. E-Mart has stores in Korea, China, and Mongolia. In South Korea, E-Mart is the largest discount store chain.

In 2006, Shinsegae bought all 16 Wal-Mart stores in Korea. These stores were then changed into E-Mart stores. Wal-Mart left the Korean market after this. In 2012, Shinsegae made E-Mart a separate company.

SSG: Online Shopping

SSG Food Market, Gangnam

SSG (often pronounced "sseuk") is an online shopping mall that Shinsegae started in 2014. On SSG, you can buy products from many Shinsegae companies. This includes Shinsegae Department Store, E-Mart, and other brands.

Shinsegae Family of Companies

Shinsegae owns many different companies. Here are some of them:

See also

• Westin Chosun Hotel
• Hyundai Department Store Group
• Homeplus