Lotte's record 1 trillion won in foreign sales still depends on Myeongdong

Lotte passed last year's full-year total of 734.8 billion won in July ^[2][7], and its first-half foreign sales were up 125% on a year earlier ^[8]. So the cumulative figure was still short of 734.8 billion won at the end of June. That puts the first half of 2025 under about 327 billion won, less than 45% of that year's full total ^[20]. More than half of last year's sales came in the second half. Lotte has averaged about 3.6 billion won a day so far ^[21]. Keeping 125% growth for the full year would take roughly 1.65 trillion won, or about 7.6 billion won a day for the 86 days after October 6 ^[22].

Set against that 125%, the store-level growth does not show business moving out of Myeongdong. Jamsil's foreign sales doubled ^[10], Busan's rose 150%, and Jeonju's and Gwangju's rose 100% ^[12]. Only Busan's rate beats the company's first-half pace. Lotte did not give the period the store figures cover, their sales in won, or Myeongdong's own growth rate. If the periods match, three of the four locations Lotte named outside Myeongdong grew more slowly than the company as a whole. On those figures the flagship's 52% share ^[18] is unlikely to have shrunk, and a 150% gain on a small Busan base can still be worth less in won than a modest gain in Myeongdong.

Against their own 2025 totals as Yonhap reported them, Shinsegae is already 31% ahead and Hyundai 15% ^[5][23]. Hyundai added a real-time AI translation service for conversations between store staff and customers this June ^[15]. Yonhap reported that chains which once relied heavily on Chinese shoppers are drawing a growing number of non-Chinese customers ^[16]. "It is meaningful that we have set a new milestone by becoming the first department store operator to reach 1 trillion won in foreign sales," said Chung Hyun-suk, chief executive of Lotte Department Store ^[3].

The figures allow three readings. In the first, the regional stores become a second source of foreign sales, large enough to show up in won next year. In the second, their percentages sit on small bases and the business stays concentrated in Myeongdong and Jamsil. In the third, part of the breadth comes from the outlets and malls that Lotte's total includes ^[1]. I think the evidence supports a bigger market without qualification. It supports a wider one only in who is shopping. The change in Jamsil's customer mix and Yonhap's account of non-Chinese demand are both measured ^[11][16]. The regional case rests on growth rates alone. The spreading thesis is wrong for now if Lotte's full-year figure still puts Myeongdong at half or more ^[9].