The promotional poster for a famous shoe brand is on the outer wall of a plant in the Seongsu-dong neighborhood of Seoul's Seongdong-gu District.

By Wu Jinhua
Photos = Wu Jinhua

Next year will mark my 10th year of living in Korea, my second home. I also seek new places to visit instead of going to the same ones as experiencing the ever-changing Seoul is something I enjoy immensely as a Chinese expat.

The Seongsu-dong neighborhood in the capital's Seongdong-gu District is a leading area for novelty. What I remember most there during my first visit were numerous old factories that seemed like relics and the occasional old and dilapidated stores that sold handmade shoes.

Until about a year ago, Seongsu-dong was simply known as a "neighborhood that sells handmade shoes."

All that changed in June this year, however, as the neighborhood transitioned from a handmade shoe hub to a mecca for pop-up stores, or temporary sales outlets for item promotion usually held at large department stores or shopping malls. Such stores have also grown popular among youth in China over the past few years.

Pop-up stores in China are little different from those at department stores in Korea. They now fill each alley in Seongsu-dong, a traditional neighborhood of old stores. I fell in love with them and visited the neighborhood three times in June alone. 

The following are three memorable pop-up stores I have visited in Seongsu-dong. 

The exterior (left) of Oreo's pop-up store commemorating the company's 111th anniversary has a long line in Seongsu-dong of Seoul's Seongdong-gu District. On the right is the store's game zone.

From pop-up store to theme park 
A pop-up store in Seongsu-dong can offer diverse experiences reminiscent of those at a theme park. One that ended on June 18 to mark the 111th anniversary of the cookie brand Oreo featured mini-golf and a large LED ball pool where visitors could throw balls. The interior looked like a grand party room packed with people taking pictures and having fun.

People of all ages including families with children, young couples and students visited this unique pop-up store. A long line was the norm since a maximum of 10 people could enter at one time, but I still enjoyed it.

The large-scale interior featuring a wide-open view and high ceiling made the pop-store look like a small theme park. A visitor could get a stamp for completing a mission at a play section and earn a free cookie for showing a staff member the mission form with all the stamps. 

On the left is the section "Door to Seongsu" and on the left "Space Wadiz" in the Seongsu-dong neighborhood of Seoul's Seongdong-gu District.

2 hotspots: Door to Seongsu and Space Wadiz

For first-time visitors to a pop-up store in Seongsu-dong, I recommend Door to Seongsu, a flagship store of the domestic convenience store chain GS25 that houses pop-up stores of popular brands without the need to wait in line.

This year's event features the pop-up stores of Won Soju, a soju (traditional alcoholic drink) brand popular among millennials and Generation Z, and Knotted Doughnut, which is famous for its character with a cute smile. While visiting Door to Seongsu on June 10, I saw a pop-up store for the American ice cream brand Haagen-Dazs, which held a tasting event with free samples.

Also featured were snacks hard to find at regular convenience stores, automatic machine dispensers of coffee, beer and wine, and limited-edition items not sold regularly during the pop-up store's period. Rest areas allowed visitors to take a break.

For those wishing to try new products and take photos to keep for life, I recommend Space Wadiz, a four-floor venue with one basement and three floors above ground. This always-packed place offers visitors the chance to try online-funded products first.

Like Door to Seongsu, Space Wadiz is always open as a prime place to visit any time. Many pop-up stores in and out of the building boast brand themes to make it a highly popular photo zone. More than 60,000 people visited here in the first half of this year alone. 

Shown are the outer facade (left) and interior (right) of Secret Garden, a pop-up store of the domestic premium ice cream brand Natuur, in an alley of the Seongsu-dong neighborhood of Seoul's Seongdong-gu District.

Unexpected encounter with Natuur's Secret Garden

I noticed several promotional booths of pop-up stores that promoted pop-up stores hidden in the alley I was walking in. One that I saw on June 18 was for Natuur, a domestic brand of premium ice cream.

While walking closer to it, I saw staff give leaflets and free cups of ice cream. I took a photo of the QR code on the leaflet with my smartphone, and the address of the pop-up store Secret Garden appeared.

I felt like an explorer in traveling labyrinthine alleys to find my destination. When I arrived at Secret Garden and showed an employee the leaflet, I received free ice cream, a quasi-reward for those who found the venue.

Seongsu-dong has many pop-up stores hidden in its alleys. For fans of analog sentiment, I recommend walking along the alleys and finding pop-up store. One that you like might just pop up.