Seoul Department Store Rankings and Where Locals Really Go (2025, by Revenue)

In Seoul, a department store isn’t a shopping mall — it’s the gravitational center of a neighborhood. Ask someone which one they frequent, and you can pretty much guess which part of the city they call home. That’s why the revenue leaderboard and the actual foot traffic tell two quite different stories. Look at both, and the city’s geography snaps into sharper focus.

Seoul's Department Store Rankings — by the Numbers

As of 2025, the top store in the country is Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam. Annual revenue: ₩3.6717 trillion. That’s nine consecutive years at No. 1. Globally, only a handful of single-store operations cross the ₩3 trillion mark — London’s Harrods and Tokyo’s Isetan Shinjuku are the usual names in that conversation. The formula here is straightforward: the foot traffic of Express Bus Terminal, multiplied by the spending power of the rebuilt Banpo apartment complexes surrounding it.

🏆 Seoul Department Store Revenue Rankings (2025, industry estimates)

The story that jumps out of this table is The Hyundai Seoul. When it opened in Yeouido in 2021, nobody considered the area department-store territory. Four years later, it’s leapfrogged the longtime heavyweights in Apgujeong and Samseong-dong. It’s also the only department store in the country to crack ₩1 trillion without Hermès, Louis Vuitton, or Chanel. The foreign-shopper share of revenue tells part of the story: it surged from 3.3% in 2022 to roughly 20% in 2025. Tourist footpaths have shifted from Myeongdong toward so-called hot places — and the numbers are now catching up to the trend.

At the other end of the spectrum, Shinsegae Main Branch in Myeongdong slipped to 10th, battered by the disruption of its first major renovation in 12 years. The silver lining: The Heritage, a luxury boutique wing built into the 1935 former Chōsen Savings Bank building, has since opened its doors and is steadily pulling the store back up the ranks.

So Where Do Locals Actually Go?

Revenue and affection are two different things. For a Seoulite, a department store isn’t a luxury emporium — it’s where you spend a weekend afternoon. Proximity to home and quality of the food court matter more than the prestige of the brand directory. That’s why the revenue rankings aren’t a popularity contest. What drives revenue at the top stores is luxury goods and VIP clients; the floors that are genuinely jam-packed on a Saturday are the basement food halls and the pop-up zones.

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Which One Should You Visit?

One more thing. Basement food halls generally open at 10:30 a.m., and around 7:30 p.m. the discount stickers start appearing on dosirak and side dishes. This is why Seoulites dip down to the basement on their way home from work. It’s also a window most travelers don’t know about.