The fervor of the professional baseball Korea Series has spread beyond the ballpark to the retail sector. At convenience stores inside stadiums, fans celebrating victories flocked to beer, driving sales up nearly tenfold, while hand warmers and blankets also sold out rapidly amid the autumn chill.
Department stores attracted visitors with events targeting baseball fans, and apparel co-branded with teams sold out on launch day, as the spillover effect of baseball's popularity expanded into the retail industry.
According to industry sources on the 10th, this year's professional baseball season, which concluded on the 8th, was a box-office success, surpassing 10 million spectators for the third consecutive year. As the baseball fever continued, consumption remained active both inside and outside the stadiums.
Convenience stores located within ballparks are a prime example. The four Seven & i stores at Suwon KT Wiz Park saw sales increase by 56% during the Korea Series games held on the 3rd and 4th of last month, compared to the same period in the previous month.
As many spectators visited the home ground of the KT Wiz, who secured first place in the regular season, sales from March through November 8 of the regular season rose by 40% year-on-year.
Spectators purchased a balanced mix of food and drink, cheering supplies, and cold-weather items at the ballparks. Breaking down sales on the 3rd and 4th by category, hand warmers increased 16-fold, instant noodles fivefold, and batteries and mobile phone accessories fourfold.
CU saw its sales growth widen as the postseason progressed. The Gwangju Kia Champions Field and Daegu Samsung Lions Park, where CU stores are located, hosted the most games in the postseason, with 10 matches each.
During the two-game wild card series, sales rose by 31.2% compared to the two games prior to the postseason, while during the five-game playoff series, they increased by 51.3%. In the three Korea Series games held at these venues, sales jumped 107.8% compared to the previous three games.
In particular, Daegu experienced cold weather with minimum temperatures dropping to 0 degrees Celsius from the 6th to the 8th of last month, when the Korea Series was underway. Consequently, sales of one-cup instant drinks (powder mixed with hot water) surged 29-fold, blankets 22-fold, and hand warmers 127-fold. Demand also spiked for snacks to stave off hunger during long games. Sales of gimbap (rice rolls) rose by 74.1%, bread increased by approximately fourfold, and bento boxes and omurice (hand-pressed rice balls) grew by 33.5% and 35.6%, respectively.
Beer became the star of the victory celebration moments. In particular, sales surged even further after footage captured the Samsung Lions spraying champagne and Hite Jinro's Terra and Kelly beers during the post-victory award ceremony. During the Korea Series period, beer sales at CU stores in Daegu increased by 108.1% compared to the previous three games. After the eighth inning of the final game, just before the championship was clinched, beer sales jumped nearly tenfold. Sales of dry snacks enjoyed with beer rose by 159.2%, while snack and biscuit/cookie sales increased by 40.3% and 94.3%, respectively.
GS25 stores located at Jamsil Baseball Stadium also benefited from the postseason effect. During the wild card series and playoff series, store sales increased by up to 41.6% compared to the same day of the week in the preceding regular season. Refrigerated dessert sales doubled, while hand warmers and hand heaters rose by 138.9%.
The baseball fever also impacted department stores and the fashion industry outside the ballparks. In Daegu, the home base of the Samsung Lions, The Hyundai Department Store launched marketing campaigns targeting baseball fans. Last month, to commemorate Samsung's advancement to the postseason, it operated pop-up stores and exhibitions. It sold official merchandise and held an exhibition featuring personal items collected by player Oh Seung-hwan. Visitors at the time increased by more than 20% compared to the Lions Fan Festa event held in April of last year.
Team fashion merchandise also proved popular. Collaborative products launched in August by Eight Seconds, a fashion division of Samsung C&T, had inventory prepared that was two to three times larger than typical for collaborative items, yet they sold out across all online and offline channels on launch day. Some stores even saw lines forming before opening hours. In response to customer requests for additional stock, three pre-order sales were held, and most of the additional inventory also sold out.
in LIVING
