Hyundai, Shinsegae competing to build the first shopping center in Gwangju

Hyundai Department Store and Shinsegae Group are racing to open the first shopping mall in Gwangju, South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. Both companies want to have a head start to get the most customers in the southwestern part of the country.

As per The Korea Times, not long after Hyundai Department Store unveiled the blueprint for its shopping mall in the said region, Shinsegae Group did not waste time and also announced its own plan to build an integrated shopping complex that will fuse a hotel and shopping center in the same building.

"We plan to build a future-oriented urban cultural complex like The Hyundai Seoul that represents Gwangju as a landmark, an official of Hyundai Department Store said in a statement. "As soon as our real estate development consultation is completed, the project will begin."

It was reported that the company is currently in talks with a real estate development company - Humans Holdings - for the construction of its mall. The land area is said to be about 310,000 square meters and it is located in the Buk District in Gwangju.

Korea Joongang Daily reported that the land was previously occupied by a textile factory, and in 2020, Humans Holdings bought it for KRW685 billion or $525.5 million when the factory shut down. Gwanju sits in the southwest corner of South Korea is 270 kilometers away from Seoul and is estimated to have a population of around 1.5 million people. While the region is already a city, it still does not have retail infrastructures like the other metropolis in the country such as Busan and Incheon.

On the other hand, Shinsegae also unveiled its plans to open its own mall and business experts predicted that this will be built right next to the Hyundai mall. In 2015, the company already tried to construct a hotel and shopping mall complex here, but the plan was terminated as civic groups, and small business owners opposed the proposal.

An official of the Shinsegae Group said regarding its mall push in the vicinity, "We will combine the group's capabilities to push for the construction of a shopping mall complex in Gwangju. It will contain a wide variety of entertainment facilities and accommodations where people can come to shop, dine out, and lodge."