The rates for empty stores in South Korea’s largest shopping mecca Dongdaemun Market have soared to as high as 86%, with Chinese e-commerce platforms pushing them further to the corners. The fashion town in Seoul had attracted young shoppers in their 20s and foreign tourists with trendy-style, cheap clothes. But they have lost luster since the mid-2000s with the rise of online shops.
Worse yet, Chinese e-commerce players such as AliExpress, Temu and Shein are eating away at the Korean offline malls' share in the ultra-cheap clothing market. Korean cheap clothing manufacturers maintain comparative advantages over Chinese products in terms of quality and designs. But the gap is being rapidly narrowed, said fashion industry officials.
As of the end of March, the vacancy rate at 14 of the 32 shopping malls in Dongdaemun fashion town reached double digits on average, according to the Dongdaemun Fashion Town Special Tourism Association. Among them, the vacancy rate at the Maxtyle shopping mall that accommodate 2,654 stores stood at 86%. The vacancy rates for two other fashion malls Designer Club and Good Morning City came in at 77% and 70%, respectively, “More than half of the clothes distributed in Dongdaemun have been replaced by Chinese products, said a fashion industry official.
“You can order similar clothes at low prices from AliExpress and Temu, so who would visit Dongdaemun?” The Dongdaemun Market used to be crowded with retailers chartering buses from all over the .
