Lotte Department Store announced on the 27th that it has applied for the cancellation of its operating rights for the Yeongdeungpo branch. However, this does not mean giving up the operation of the Yeongdeungpo branch; rather, it aims to secure a stable operating right of at least 10 years through re-bidding in the future.
If it obtains operating rights for over 10 years, the Yeongdeungpo branch plans to undergo renovations to strengthen its competitiveness.
Opened in 1991, the Lotte Department Store Yeongdeungpo branch is the country's first privately funded department store that has been operated under a land use permit granted by the government in 1988. It is also the third department store to open following the main branch and the Jamsil branch.
The government decided to revert privately funded commercial facilities, whose land use permits expired in 2017 after 30 years, to the state and to reselect operators. At that time, Lotte Department Store received a land use permit for the Yeongdeungpo branch through bidding. However, contracts were made every five years, which posed a burden on investments, and it failed to actively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in the commercial district.
Lotte Department Store acquired an additional five years of operating rights through a renewal after the expiration of the contract from 2020 to 2024. However, it concluded that an overall renovation is necessary to restore the competitiveness of the Yeongdeungpo branch, which led to the decision to cancel the use in order to secure a stable operating period before the start of renovations.
Lotte Department Store plans to closely examine and participate in bidding once the announcement for new operator bids is made. If newly selected as an operator, it will secure an operating period of at least 10 years under the revised law. A representative from Lotte Department Store stated, “We plan to target the western Seoul commercial area with differentiated merchandise after securing stable operating rights.”