What: Sweet Park at Shinsegae Department Store has become a major draw for millennials, Gen Z, and tourists, transforming desserts into a standalone category and driving rapid growth in Korea’s sweet scene.

Why it is important: The concept demonstrates the power of food and dessert innovation to boost footfall, diversify revenue, and position department stores as lifestyle and tourism destinations

Shinsegae’s Sweet Park, a dessert specialty hall at its Gangnam branch, has surpassed 12 million visitors since opening in February 2024, establishing itself as a “dessert mecca” for both domestic and international customers. By elevating desserts from a corner of the food hall to a dedicated, experiential space, Sweet Park has doubled dessert sales and increased their share of food hall revenue from 15% to 30%. The hall’s curated mix of global and local brands, rotating pop-up zones, and focus on narrative-driven, everyday consumption has attracted a particularly high proportion of millennials and Gen Z, as well as a growing number of tourists. Sweet Park’s success has inspired benchmarking visits from overseas retailers and is positioning Korea as a global K-dessert hub, mirroring the international rise of K-food and K-beauty. Shinsegae plans to expand the concept to other branches and continue innovating through brand collaborations and space upgrades, reinforcing the role of experiential retail in driving growth and customer engagement.

IADS Notes: Shinsegae’s Sweet Park exemplifies the transformation of Korean department stores into experiential, category-driving destinations. As reported by Maeil Business Newspaper in February 2025 and Forbes in April 2025, the success of “House of Shinsegae” and The Heritage demonstrates how experiential retail concepts can attract younger customers and tourists, driving significant sales growth and brand differentiation . Maeil Business Newspaper in July 2025 and Korea Herald in August 2025 highlighted how Sweet Park and similar initiatives have doubled dessert sales and increased their share of food hall revenue, showing the potential for new growth drivers in retail . The Chosun Daily in June 2025 and Korea JoongAng Daily in September 2025 described how Korean department stores are leveraging pop-up formats and cultural storytelling to promote K-desserts internationally, with Sweet Park drawing benchmarking interest from overseas retailers . Inside Retail in July 2025 and The Korea Herald in April 2025 discussed the importance of rotating pop-up zones and dynamic brand curation to maintain customer interest and relevance . Finally, Maeil Business Newspaper in January 2025 and Inside Retail in May 2025 provided context on the competitive landscape and the need for Korean department stores to innovate and differentiate through experiential retail and new category development . Collectively, these developments show that Sweet Park is not only a driver of footfall and sales but also a model for global benchmarking and the export of K-dessert culture.

Shinsegae's Sweet Park draws 12 million visitors