Lotte Shopping said on the 1st that it was selected as the new operator of commercial facilities at Yeongdeungpo Station after bidding in a tender held by the Korea National Railway. The decision allows Lotte Shopping to continue running its Lotte Department Store Yeongdeungpo branch for the next 10 years.
The usage permit runs for 10 years from the date the new contract is signed, with rent set at 22.96 billion won. The Korea National Railway had held three tenders since February this year to select a new operator for the commercial facilities at Yeongdeungpo Station, but all failed to draw a successful bid. Lotte Department Store was the sole bidder in the fourth public tender and was named the final operator.
Opened in 1991, the Yeongdeungpo branch was the country's first department store inside a privately financed railway station, operated by Lotte Shopping under a usage permit for the Yeongdeungpo Station complex. After its operating contract for 2020 through 2024 expired, Lotte Department Store secured a five-year extension covering 2025 through 2029. The company concluded, however, that five-year terms made it difficult to commit to medium- and long-term investment to strengthen the store's competitiveness, and in June last year it returned the remaining contract period. At the time, Lotte Department Store said it planned to secure a stable operating period of at least 10 years to push ahead with a full renovation of the branch.
The winning bid gives Lotte Department Store a foundation to run the Yeongdeungpo branch over the long term while undertaking a large-scale renovation. "With a stable operating period of at least 10 years now secured, Lotte Department Store plans to raise the competitiveness of the Yeongdeungpo branch through differentiated merchandising and other measures so that it can become the leading department store in the western Seoul retail market," a Lotte Department Store official said.
