Private company

Shinsegae

Shinsegae Inc. (Korean: 신세계; Hanja: 新世界; lit. 'new world', KRX: 004170) is a South Korean department store franchise, along with several other businesses, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.1

Last updated Oct 18, 2026.

Overview

1963Founded1

See how the biggest companies compare on our leaderboards

Shinsegae Inc. (Korean: 신세계; Hanja: 新世界; lit. 'new world', KRX: 004170) is a South Korean department store franchise, along with several other businesses, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The firm is an affiliate of Shinsegae Group, South Korea's leading retail chaebol, and one of the big three department store firms in Korea, along with Lotte and Hyundai Department Store. Its flagship store in Centum City, Busan, is the world's largest department store at 3,163,000 square feet (293,900 m2), surpassing Macy's flagship Herald Square in New York City in 2009.2

The story

Founded by Lee Byung-chul in 1963.1

The main branch of Shinsegae is the oldest department store in Korea. It was opened in 1930 as the Gyeongseong branch of Mitsukoshi, a Japanese department store franchise; Korea was occupied by the Japanese Empire at the time. The store was acquired in 1945 by the late founder of Samsung group, Lee Byung-chull, and renamed Donghwa Department Store. After the Korean War (1950–1953) began, it was used for several years as a post exchange by the American army. In 1963, the store was given the name Shinsegae. The old building is currently used as a luxury shopping venue.

In 2021, Shinsegae bought the then-named SK Wyverns of the KBO League from SK and renamed then the SSG Landers. They bought them for 135.2 billion won, (100 billion for the team itself, and 35.2 billion for the team's facilities and properties) equivalent to $112.8 million.

Shinsegae Group will split its department store and supermarket divisions into two separate entities, the retail giant said 30 Oct 2024.

From Wikipedia’s article on Shinsegae, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Leadership

Who has led Shinsegae, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Products and brands

Other facilities

The complex also includes (it is unclear in which section):

a Lego Shop

a Dolby Cinema Megabox 7-screen, 943-seat multicinema

the Shinsegae Academy with educational content via an online lecture platform and mobile system

Read the full text

the Shinsegae Gallery, an art exhibition space that attracts numerous customers

on the 6th floor, a panoramic glass window cabinet gallery & art terrace overlooks Gapcheon

the Hella fun City Daejeon municipal public relations Center

Table of stores

Shinsegae also has a small branch in Incheon International Airport, and a supermarket in Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Shinsegae launched the Shinsegae Style Market, a smaller shopping mall mainly aimed at young customers, in 2010. Despite its name, the mall is managed by Shinsegae's subsidiary E-Mart.

Seongnam Style Market in E-Mart Taepyeong branch, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province

Daejeon Style Market in E-Mart Daejeon Terminal Complex branch, Dong-gu, Daejeon

Planned

A fashion mall for youngsters in the building of Mesa, a defunct shopping mall right beside Shinsegae's main store in Jung-gu, Seoul

Shopping mall at Samsung Town, NW of Seoul new town is under construction

Defunct

Daegu Store (대구점) in Jung-gu, Daegu (opened in 1973 and closed in December 1976)

Shinsegae Store Banpo (신세계 스토어 반포) in Gangnam-gu, Seoul (opened in 1974 and closed several years later)

Gyeongju Bomun Store (경주보문점) in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province (opened in 1979 and closed several years later)

Dongbang Plaza Store (동방플라자) in Jung-gu, Seoul (opened in 1982 and closed in 1996)

Cheonho Store (천호점) in Gangdong-gu, Seoul (closed in 2000, converted into E-Mart Cheonho Store)

Mia Store (미아점) in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (closed in 2007, converted into E-Mart Mia Store)

Discount store

E-Mart (Korean: 이마트) is a subsidiary of Shinsegae and a large discount store chain founded in South Korea, having stores in China, Korea and Mongolia. Domestically, E-Mart is the biggest discount store chain followed by Home Plus, and Lotte Mart.

In late May 2006, Shinsegae revealed plans to buy all 16 of the Wal-Mart stores in Korea. All of the country's Wal-Mart outlets were re-branded as E-Mart in October 2006. Wal-Mart exited the Korean market soon after.

Shinsegae spun off its E-Mart department into a separate corporation (KRX: 139480) in 2012. The shopping mall was acquired by E-Mart in January 2014.

From Wikipedia’s article on Shinsegae, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1963Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3