Korean Job Discussion Forums

legalquestions · Joined: 25 Mar 2007

I'm not talking about the small COEX shopping area or the Korean department stores. I'm talking about the large (3-4 floors), huge food court, movie theater, anchored by department stores, type places.

Even third world countries I've lived in have them (Philippines, Cambodia, UAE, etc). Why not here?

The Grumpy Senator · Joined: 13 Jan 2008 Location: Up and down the 6 line

Have you been to Jamsil?

RyanInKorea · Joined: 17 Jan 2008

I'm sorry... did you say small?

Ryan

ciccone_youth · Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Location: Japan

definitely not as many, i noticed too. i guess they have their version with underground shopping malls.

i do prefer to just walk around a neighbourhood (such as Myeong-dong) and shop at the different stores.

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

seoulsucker · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 10:04 pm Post subject:

COEX is pretty big, and is anchored by the Hyundai department store I believe. You can also check out the I'Park mall at Yongsan Station. I think that's 6 or 7 stories with a bunch of restaurants, shops, a huge courtyard for performances, movie theater, putt putt, etc.

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

Both COEX and the Lotte Complex at Jamsil to me fit the category of what you are looking for. COEX is definitely not small by anyone's definition ... Too big for me ... And Lotte at Jamsil includes everything from Movies to Ice skating and Theme Park ...

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

OP, you aren't going to find those huge million square foot malls/outlets here in Korea. There is no land to put it down. Where would you put parking for it? All that land is expensive, no retailer would be able to afford the rent to setup shop there. What about transportation/infrastructure.

CoEx is huge, and they have a freaking Aquarium, movie theater, deparment store, hotel, Casino, and a ton of shops. How the hell can you think of it as small?

IncognitoHFX · Joined: 06 May 2007 Location: Yeongtong, Suwon

I don't know what an American style shopping mall is, but I can't see how Korean endeavours like Aekyeong are all that different from back home. They have food courts, movie theatres and multiple floors with different sections, how is that different?

I actually find Korean department stores / malls better than back home. Make fun of me all you want, but I think they have a better parking system, are cleaner, don't have as many sketchy people, have more variety and better customer service than back home.

Malls in North America have been taken over by poor, disgusting fat people and stupid teenagers. I hated going to those places. Here I can tolerate.

ardis · Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Location: Seoul

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we're not actually living in America...?

Lekker · Joined: 09 Feb 2008 Location: Seoul

bangbayed · Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Location: Seoul

I think the real question is why are you expecting / wanting them to be here in the first place. They don't exist in most countries. If you really want the Korean/Asian version of them, go to Dongdaemun or Namdaemun. The huge, nevermind 3-4, 10 story clothes 'malls' like APM and Doota, as well as Technomart, have all you were asking for (food court, movie theatre, etc.). If for some reason you want a department store attached, like someone suggested, go to Ipark.

Drew345 · Joined: 24 May 2005

Thailand and Indonesia have those huge malls too. Much bigger than Coex or IPark (though Jamshil is pretty big).
But in those places people use the malls to escape from the heat of the day; here that is not quite as necessary.

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

La Festa and Western Dom in Ilsan are nice places.

sojourner1 · Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:26 am Post subject:

The OP may be looking for stores that specialize in a western brands such as Dockers, Timberland, and others. While Thailand's Siam Square has 3 large malls attacked to each other with many western branded stores, Korea's malls and stores only cater to Korean. I did find Levi jeans in Namdaemoon market, but not in a store. I haven't seen Dockers, Polo, Lacoste, Timberland, or anything else such as Doc Martins. In Korea, I couldn't locate eye glasses made for westerners, but in Thailand European glasses are the norm and easy to get in one day. I couldn't get dentistry in Korea, but in Thailand, it was no problem to get affordable dentistry while on vacation. I guess if you had a Korean helping you, you would do better in your shopping pursuits.

You really have to do your shopping when outside of Korea on a trip as Korea only caters to Korean instead of a diverse clientele. Trying to shop and get other essential services just plain sucks in Korea.