Korea’s two retail giants Shinsegae and Lotte are waged in an exhibitionist contest through elephantine and new-concept shopping structures.

Lotte Group in 2014 began erecting the country’s tallest skyscraper Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul, hoping to use it as an eye-catching appeal to consumers in and around Seoul.

Its rival Shinsegae instead chose to go big horizontally. It opened the country’s largest shopping mall complex Starfield Hanam, a city east off from Seoul, just 25-minute drive or seven miles away from Lotte World Tower.

Both Lotte and Shinsegae pitch their new expensive venture was paying off.

Shinsegae on Tuesday announced that the number of visitors to Starfield Hanam reached 10 million on January 26 in 140 days since the opening in September last year. Lotte World Tower shopping mall hit the 10 million-milestone in 137 days after opening in 2014.

The two are competing in the economies of scale.

The Lotte World Tower stands on a floor space of 87,183 square meters, and Starfield Hanam over 118,000 square meters. Lotte beats in sheer scale as it spans over 805,872 square meters that stretches as far as 1,245,057 square meters when counting in Lotte World Adventure and Lotte Department Store adjacent to the skyscraper.

Lotte and Shinsegae have also invested heavily in making their landmark venues as unique as possible, featuring entertainment, sports, and spa facilities to make visits a fulfilling a day-out experience for young people and families.

Lotte aimed to pull in high-end shoppers by hosting 1,000 luxury brands including the household names like Hermes and Chanel. Its super high-rise features duty-free shop, observatory floor, aquarium, concert hall, indoors theme park, and cinema.

Starfield wins in ingenuity and trendiness. The place has become a hot dating and family outing destination as it features a department store, outlet, and shopping mall complex and top-class gourmet street and indoors sports arena.

By Sohn Il-seon and Kim Yoo-tae

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]