THE HYUNDAI SEOUL × Seol Dongju
Explore Every Corner of THE HYUNDAI SEOUL with the Self Benchmarking Tour
THE HYUNDAI SEOUL set a new standard for department stores in the heart of Seoul. True to its title as 'the department store that broke the mold,' it has drawn enormous attention — and a flood of store tour requests from customers at home and abroad eager to know it better. In response, Hyundai Department Store has run the 'THE HYUNDAI SEOUL Benchmarking Tour' program for the past two years. And this year, the tour has been upgraded to share THE HYUNDAI SEOUL's innovative operational know-how with even more visitors. So how has the Benchmarking Tour changed?
Chapter 1
What Is the Benchmarking Tour?
In the THE HYUNDAI SEOUL Benchmarking Tour, staff members who work at THE HYUNDAI SEOUL serve as docents, sharing the store's operational know-how and marketing strategies over a roughly 40-minute tour. It reveals how THE HYUNDAI SEOUL broke away from the typical department store to become a playground for the MZ generation — drawing especially enthusiastic responses from small business owners and startup professionals. The chance to take a close look at the VIP-only membership lounge closed to regular customers, the industry's largest indoor garden and art space, and THE HYUNDAI SEOUL's dedicated pop-up zones full of things to see sparked the curiosity of many.
However, as a small-group program limited to ten participants per session, sign-ups always closed early. To give more people the opportunity, Hyundai Department Store created the Self Benchmarking Tour — a way to explore every corner of THE HYUNDAI SEOUL on your own.
Chapter 2
The Benchmarking Tour Goes Self-Guided
The Self Benchmarking Tour is designed so that anyone can fully enjoy THE HYUNDAI SEOUL alone and discover the hidden sides of its spaces.
The store map created for the Self Benchmarking Tour features descriptions of THE HYUNDAI SEOUL's key spots, the tour route, and QR codes for the audio guide service. With the audio guide introducing THE HYUNDAI SEOUL's special places in four languages, anyone can explore the space easily and comfortably.
Chapter 3
The Store Map Becomes a Keepsake!
To make the Self Benchmarking Tour a lasting memory, this store map was created in collaboration with artist Seol Dongju, who captures cityscapes around the world in evocative pen drawings.
The store map works as a guidebook explaining the key spots and tour route — and when you unfold the front cover featuring the Waterfall Garden, it transforms into an A2-sized illustrated poster reinterpreting the spaces of THE HYUNDAI SEOUL.
Chapter 4
Illustrator Seol Dongju, Capturing the Beauty of Space
For Seol Dongju, who spent a full six months conceiving and refining this store map, the collaboration was a new kind of challenge. We met the illustrator — who records beautiful moments of cities around the world with a single pen — to hear the story behind the store map and his personal tips for enjoying THE HYUNDAI SEOUL.
We heard you took part in creating the store map for THE HYUNDAI SEOUL's Self Benchmarking Tour. How did you feel about collaborating with THE HYUNDAI SEOUL?
When I first heard about the collaboration, I was thrilled! It's a place I genuinely enjoy visiting, so the offer felt especially welcome.
How long did it take to create this store map?
It took about half a year of walking through the spaces, taking photos, and developing the concept. The drawing and finishing took about two more months. It wasn't an ordinary artwork map — the spaces of THE HYUNDAI SEOUL had to be connected into a single form, which is why it took so long.
At first I imagined a simple, ordinary department store map. But as we talked in meetings, the team proposed making it not just an informational store map but a single work of art — something that sets it apart from conventional store maps. I loved the concept of an artwork map you could hang on your wall. That's also when we settled on weaving THE HYUNDAI SEOUL's distinctive spaces into one unified form.
Was there anything you paid special attention to while creating the store map?
Unlike my usual work, this project required color, so I put a lot of care into that. I usually draw a single scene — a landscape or a striking moment from my travels — but this collaboration meant connecting the spaces of THE HYUNDAI SEOUL into one form, which was new to me. I thought hard about how to present spaces unique to THE HYUNDAI SEOUL that you won't find in other department stores — Sounds Forest, Waterfall Garden, Creative Ground — and how to blend them naturally. I'm happy with how it turned out.
You must have visited THE HYUNDAI SEOUL often for this project. Which space left the deepest impression?
Sounds Forest, with its Outside-Inside concept that lets you feel nature indoors, impressed me the most. I love taking in a good view, and it feels a little different every time, so whenever I visit THE HYUNDAI SEOUL, Sounds Forest is always my first stop.
The Waterfall Garden — the first scene you see when you enter and arguably the most iconic space — is stunning too. In fact, figuring out how to draw the Waterfall Garden was probably my biggest challenge. In the end I made it the cover because of its symbolism, and considering I began the work by drawing the Waterfall Garden, it feels like a curious coincidence.
And I can't leave out YPHAUS. I'd been all over THE HYUNDAI SEOUL many times, but I never knew a space like that was hidden inside. To me, THE HYUNDAI SEOUL feels like an amusement park, and YPHAUS felt like another new amusement park within it. Rendering the artwork inside YPHAUS on the store map was fun, too — drawing someone else's artwork was a refreshing experience.
Finally, a word for the visitors who will enjoy the Self Benchmarking Tour with your store map.
This store map captures the hidden stories and operational strategies of THE HYUNDAI SEOUL that I learned through the Benchmarking Tour. I hope you'll enjoy THE HYUNDAI SEOUL to the fullest with the map I made — free from the constraints of time and language.
Also, because this store map depicts the actual spaces of THE HYUNDAI SEOUL, you can see the very same view when you visit each spot. It would be fun to bring the map to a location and compare the drawing with the real space side by side — 'This is how it looks to me, and this is how he expressed it.'
THE HYUNDAI SEOUL is a place that keeps changing to show something new. It's captured in drawings now, but as time passes, the real spaces will gradually look a little different. Spotting those differences should be fun as well.
