Chanel, Hermes, Vuitton Snub Hyundai Department Store Duty Free

By Park Jae-hyuk

Hyundai Department Store Group failed to have Chanel, Hermes and Louis Vuitton shops at its first duty free store which will open Thursday near the World Trade Center Seoul, the retail giant said Wednesday.

'The number of Chinese tourists has sharply declined due to the diplomatic dispute over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system here.

Against this backdrop, foreign luxury brands have been skeptical about opening their shops at new duty free stores,' Hyundai Department Store Duty Free President Hwang Hae-yeon said during a press conference at the new store in southeastern Seoul.

He did not provide a specific blueprint for attracting the top three luxury brands.

'It is usual for new duty free stores to spend a couple of years attracting top luxury brands, such as Chanel and Hermes,' the executive said. 'Drawing support from Hyundai Department Store, we will do our best to have such brands open their shops at our duty free store as soon as possible.

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Hyundai Department Store's failure is in stark contrast to what the company said in November 2016.

Back then, the department store chain claimed its agreement with the sales agent for Louis Vuitton guaranteed the luxury brand would open a shop at its then envisioned duty free store, if it obtained a government license in December

As sales agent Bluebell Korea said at that time it never promised to open a Louis Vuitton shop at the duty free store, the exaggeration has been regarded as the retailer's desperate bid to get an upper hand in the intensifying competition in the market.

Earnings from the top three luxury brands, which are especially popular with...