On the morning of the 9th, on the 5th floor of The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul. Upon entering through a large door painted with colorful graffiti, a New York "Central Park & Yorkville" subway station appeared. After passing through the ticket gates and walking along a narrow corridor, American rapper Nas's song "N.Y. State of Mind" began to play.
At the end of the street, a New York street lined with red brick buildings unfolded before our eyes. Neon signs twinkled overhead, and a yellow taxi was stopped on the road. A 1980s-1990s American New York Christmas street had arrived in the middle of Yeouido, Seoul.
Hyundai Department Store unveiled its spatial staging, "Christmas in New York City," to the media on this day ahead of Christmas. In an approximately 300-pyeong space on the 5th floor of The Hyundai Seoul's "Sounds Forest H Village," which has been transformed into a New York street, the protagonists are Hyundai Department Store's representative character, the baby bear "Harry," and New York's stray cats. The story is about Santa Claus coming to New York to deliver gifts but getting stuck in the crowd, and then receiving help from the Goyang cats he meets on a chimney. The Goyang gang, formed around the leader Goyang cat, Heihei, and Haihai, helps Santa with his mission.
The Goyang character is inspired by New York's small grocery stores, "bodegas." In New York, Goyang cats that settle between the counters or shelves of bodegas to guard the shops are called "bodega cats." Having become the mainstays of the shops by catching mice and pests, they are mascots of the New York streets. At H Village as well, about 40 Goyang cats are hidden in various places, such as building windows, railings, inside stores, and on top of traffic lights.
Hidden devices showcasing the history of Hyundai Department Store were also placed throughout. A newspaper dated December 25, 1985, is a prime example. Set against the backdrop of 1985, when Hyundai Department Store first opened its doors, they created a Christmas Day newspaper. They made a newspaper with the headline "Santa is Real" and placed it on a newsstand. The "HDS-1985" written on the taxi license plate is also a combination of the English abbreviation for Hyundai Department Store (HDS) and its founding year.
The responsible team began brainstorming ideas in November last year and spent a month on production, paying attention to details. They recreated scenes one might see on an actual street, from steam rising out of manholes on New York streets to pizza slices left behind by pigeons. They also researched the shape of the Goyang cats' eyes. The explanation was that since Goyang cats express emotions through their eyes, they paid attention to conveying a happy and warm expression without appearing threatening to visitors. The newspaper's font referenced actual New York newspapers, and they individually checked whether the hip-hop music playing on the street contained any profanity in the lyrics.
Jung Min-gyu, Lead Designer of the VMD Team at Hyundai Department Store, explained, "We focused not on showing decorations or objects, but on the experience where customers follow a story within a single world and become the protagonists." Jung also incorporated his experience of having actually lived in New York. Places and cultures representing New York, such as Central Park, The Plaza Hotel, Broadway musicals, the ice rink at Bryant Park, and the Christmas market at Union Square, were expressed throughout the space.
Hyundai Department Store's Christmas staging has evolved every year in a direction that captures the value of the era and emotions. In 2021, it featured a house in the forest symbolizing healing and recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic; in 2022, it conveyed a message of harmony amidst war and conflict; and in 2024, it expressed the meaning of a festival where the world meets through the Olympics. This year, attention was paid to "small heroes" who provide strength to someone in daily life. Jung explained, "We connected the stories of citizens who do good deeds even if they are not usually noticed to the Goyang cats through imagination."
This spatial staging is also extending into a brand strategy. The policy is to build an experience unique to Hyundai Department Store and develop it into a landmark through new stories every year. H Village at The Hyundai Seoul, which started in 2022, surpassed 1.5 million cumulative visitors as of last year. Hyundai Department Store stated, "As it is gaining attention as a representative domestic Christmas photo spot, we plan to gift joy with a spectacular and unique staging this year as well."
in LIVING
