“The last remaining value in offline retail is the ‘connection between people and media.’”
Kim Hyun-soo, Deputy Minister of Space Solutions at IGIS Asset Management, noted during a lecture on ‘Retail from the Perspective of Place Making’ at the ’2025 ChosunBiz Consumer and Retail Forum' held on the 11th at the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Josun Hotel in Seoul.
IGIS Asset Management is the largest real estate-focused asset management company in Korea, established in 2010. Kim noted, “The value of offline detail lies in creating a place where customers voluntarily and repeatedly want to spend a long time,” adding, “IGIS Asset Management is a company that engages in ‘place making.’”
Kim stated, “Before the advent of e-commerce, the value of offline retail was in accessibility to information and resource efficiency, but this value collapsed after the emergence of e-commerce.”
He added, “This means we must build ‘space media brands’ beyond the value of the connection between manufacturing and sales.”
Kim introduced the ‘Ace Hotel,’ known as a historic hotel in downtown Los Angeles, as a related case.
He explained, “The Ace Hotel has no boundaries between the lobby and the space. When you open the door and enter, instead of an info desk, there are sofas where people inevitably mix comfortably over drinks, because the founder, Alex Calderwood, aimed to create a space where one can play while working. This value has led to rising real estate prices in the nearby town where the Ace Hotel is located.”
Kim classified six core values of place making as ▲relationship ▲experience ▲consumption ▲symbolism ▲comfort ▲others (commemoration, pleasure, convenience). He explained that retail corresponds to values such as relationship, experience, and consumption.
Kim stated, “Media has become much more three-dimensional and dynamic, personalizing itself compared to the past. The fact that social media platforms like Instagram have greater influence than TV, newspapers, or magazines is evidence of this,” and noted, “It has become important to convert the experiences I have into media value and to provide spaces that offer such value.”
He continued, “We narrowed down to the connection value between people and media, examining the physical elements of ‘immersion and communication,’ focusing on three moments: moments when one wants to be immersed, moments needing ice-breaking, and moments needing communication,” and described it as a consideration for evolving solutions amidst shifts in the commerce landscape from the perspective of a financial company engaged in alternative real estate investments.