Korea Expat BLog

OutLet Malls

at the time of initial post on October 3rd 2010 only two Outlet Malls throughout the Korean Penninsula
and a year-and-a-half later our second update on February 2nd 2012 finds the total number of Outlet Malls nearing the number of CostCo throughout South Korea – and this is a good thing 😉
as the two Korean conglomerate-run shopping goliath ShinSeGae and Lotte bid for more mammoth shopping outlets while even yondering onto Duty-Free-Shop territory overseas ~

  • ShinSeGae operating 2 large outlets contracted with Chelsea Outlets in Paju and Yeoju (North-West and South-East of Seoul respectively)
  • Lotte operating 2 Premium Outlets in again Paju and KimHae
    and 3 local outlets of their own 2 in KwangJu and another in DaeGu

 

RETURN AND EXCHANGE POLICIES
some stores accept return/exchanges within 7 days or even 15 while a few worldly popular do NOT have any policies at all .

DISCOUNT PRICES
most stores sell 1~3 year old design items at 25~ 65% .
but keep in mind major Department Stores in South Korea have regular sales 2 times a year with discounts around 30%. at the same time major Duty Free Shops also go into sales with also 30% but because their price is 15 ~ 20% lower than Department Stores you can safely expect 40 ~ 50% discount from original retail prices . so in the whole : Duty Free Shops On Sale are probably cheaper so you might not want to spend the extra hassle of going out of your way to visit an OutLet Mall .

EXTRA DISCOUNT ON DEFECT
counting the fact that merchandise in OutLet Stores have gone through other stores and even on Sale it is no surprise to find minor scratches . while smaller outlets closer to metropolis may give extra discounts on severe defects, the larger malls listed here probably won’t . furthermore because of this most famous designer brands here do NOT give out a guarantee slip .

KIDS AND ART GALLERIES
extensifying outlet competion have added children-care facilities in addition to extensive children brand names and lend out trollers
while the latest trend is that most have announced plans to add art gallery space if they haven’t yet to add a cultural star on their name-plates .

most outlets are open throughout the day only to close on Korean ThanksGiving and New Years

 

 

show-time folks, and as usual all our listing would go geographically from North-West then clock-wise South-East-ward :

also check out my earlier post on IKEA outlet in Paju – a then-barren land perhaps because of its proximity to the Demilitarized Zone bordering North Korea reached by following the Han River North-West from the foreign residence district of HanNamDong in the Capital of Seoul
where the latest outlet war is blazing between ShinSeGae and Lotte ..

 

Paju Chelsea Outlets (ShinSeGae)
open March 2011 with 160 Brand stores seem to have the most discount of all Korean outlets
is located the most North-Western thus within an hour’s drive to the Demilitarized Zone over-seeing North Korea gulp //

WeekDays 10am~8pm Saturday & Sunday until 9pm Telephone 1644-4001

shop directory :
http://www.premiumoutlets.co.kr/eng/paju/01_centers/01_centers_brand.asp

location map and transportation in English :
http://www.premiumoutlets.co.kr/eng/paju/01_centers/01_centers_map.asp

 

Lotte Premium Outlets in Paju
open December 2nd 2011 with 213 Brand stores including 32 independent blocks is the largest outlet in Korea as of February 2012
thus boasts Korean outlets’ first in-house movie theatre as well as a supposedly-peaceful garden at the top for you to rationalize your purchases 0o0

Monday ~ Thursday 11am ~ 8pm and Weekends until 9pm Telephone 031-960-2300

English site with floor layout :
http://paju.lotteoutlets.com/pj_English/introduction/introduction.html

location map and transportation in English :
http://paju.lotteoutlets.com/pj_English/introduction/introduction.html

 

 

YeoJu Chelsea OutLets (ShinSeGae)
a belated-first among a much developed nation with still money to spend no-matter the effects of IMF bail-out still lingering on
thus is a true-Outlet in the sense they carry mostly American and European Brand Names while latter ones have added-in local Korean brands as massive stuffing -_-

in a central geographical location South-East of the Capital of Seoul
and would be a pleasure dropping-by on your 4-hour plus drive down to Korea’s Southern Cities of DaeGu and Busan or Pusan .

open June 2007 with aproximately 120 designer brands
operated by Chelsea Premium OutLets and Shinsegae Department Store
(planning a 2nd OutLet in PaJoo)

open weekdays 10am~8pm Sat.~9pm (July & Aug.~9pm) closed New Years and ThangGiving Day
Tel.031-880-1234

English site :
http://www.premiumoutlets.co.kr/eng/01_centers/main_yeoju.asp

shop layout map and directory listing :
http://www.premiumoutlets.co.kr/eng/01_centers/01_centers_brand.asp

location map and transportation in English :
http://www.premiumoutlets.co.kr/eng/01_centers/01_centers_map.asp

YeoJu Premium OutLets is located in a major highway intersection between and West-East YongDong Expressway .

TRANSPORTATION
Tour Bus available on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays .
adult W16,000; child & VIP members W11,000
reservations at GoodBus SamBo Tel.1588-9722

  • 11:00 am Grand Intercontinental Hotel Airport Bus Stop (Subway Line 2 SamSung Station Exit 5)
  • 11:05 am COEX Intercontinental Hotel Airport Bus Stop (opposite side of COEX complex from Grand Intercontinental Hotel)
  • 11:15 am Subway Line 2 JamSil Sports Stadium Station Exit 1
  • 11:20 am in front of Lotte Mart entrance (Subway Line 2 JamSil Station Exit 4)
  • 12:30 pm arrive at YeoJu Premium OutLets
  •  5:00 pm depart YeoJu for route back to JamSil and SamSung Subway Stations .

alternately you can take a regular out-of-city express buses from Seoul :
– KangNam Express Bus Terminal to YeoJu Express Bus Terminal in 30 ~ 50 minute intervals taking almost an hour, and taking a taxi from there, or
– DongSeoul Express Bus Terminal to same as above in 15 ~ 20 minute intervals taking an hour also .

 

 

Lotte Premium OutLets in KimHae
the third outlet mall to open in the Korean Penninsula  after the minor KwangJu WorldCup OutLet
in the satellite city North-West of the Port City of Busan or Pusan ..

open December 2008 with 133 brands
Monday ~ Thursday 11am ~ 8pm , Weekends until 9 pm Telephone 055-900-2500

English site :
http://gimhae.lotteoutlets.com/gh_English/introduction/introduction.html

location map and transportation in English :
http://gimhae.lotteoutlets.com/gh_English/introduction/location.html

bus Number 220/221 accessible at Pusan Subway Line 1 (South-East end) HaDan Station

OK so if you are ready we’re goin’ shoppin’ with Wonder Girls 😉

 

 

( February 3rd 2012 Update )

GiJang Chelsea Outlets (ShinSeGae)
a ground-breaking ceremony was held today with plans by ShinSeGae to open their yet largest outlet store in the furthest South-East tip of the Korean Penninsula next September 2013 with an outlook of 180 brand names .

GiJang is a small town in the middle of no-where, just East of the port city of Busan or Pusan and a major real-estate boom over the Millennium in prospect of becoming another Satellite city of Busan or Pusan as is with GimHae or KimHae (North-West of Busan or Pusan) where the competition Lotte opened-up 3 years ago .

the town lies on road in-land from sea-side linking Busan or Pusan with automotive capital of UlSan to the North .

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