"You have to shop for clothes here, eat and grab a coffee": Foreigners Flock Every Weekend as Musinsa Reshapes Seoul's "Tourism Map"

11 Musinsa Stores Across 7 Commercial Districts: Before-and-After Comparison
Sales at Nearby Businesses Rise 22%
Sales Near Seongsu and Seoul Forest Rise 43.7%

On weekends, buses carrying Chinese tour groups converge on the area around Seoul Forest, in front of Trimage in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. After getting off the buses, tourists walk around Seoul Forest before heading to Musinsa stores. Once they have picked out clothes and left the stores, their next destination is the alleys of Seongsu-dong. The alleys bustle on weekends with tourists moving between restaurants, cafes and clothing shops.

Offline stores of online fashion platform Musinsa are reshaping Seoul's tourism map.

Offline stores operated by online fashion platform Musinsa are reshaping Seoul's tourism map. As Musinsa stores have become part of foreign tourists' shopping itineraries in major commercial districts such as Seongsu, Myeongdong and Hongdae, nearby businesses are also seeing more visitors. The stores are serving as so-called "anchor stores" that draw in customers and lead them to other businesses in the area.

According to a study titled "Offline Expansion by Online Fashion Platforms and Changes in Local Commercial Districts," to be presented on the afternoon of November 6 at the fall academic conference of the Korea Association of Small Business Studies, card sales at businesses within 1 kilometer of 11 Musinsa stores rose by an average of 22.0% in the year after the stores opened, compared with the previous year. Of this increase, 19.4 percentage points came from higher spending by foreign customers, equivalent to about 88% of the average sales growth.

Card Sales Within 200 Meters of Musinsa Stores Rise 36%

A research team led by Professor Cho Chunhan of Gyeonggi University of Science and Technology surveyed 16 Musinsa offline stores across seven commercial districts: Seongsu and Seoul Forest, Hongdae, Myeongdong, Gangnam and Hannam in Seoul; Dongseong-ro in Daegu; and Seomyeon in Busan. The stores included Musinsa Standard, its own-brand stores, and Musinsa Store, a select shop. Of these, the team compared the year before and the year after opening for 11 stores with 12 months of data for each period, excluding the month the stores opened. The researchers tallied card spending at businesses in 20 sectors, including nearby clothing, fashion and accessory shops, restaurants, cafes and convenience stores, excluding Musinsa's own sales.

Card sales at businesses within 1 kilometer increased around all 11 stores. The number of transactions rose by an average of 10.6%, while the average transaction amount increased by 10.1%. Sales to domestic customers grew by an average of 2.8%, but fell around five of the 11 stores.

Combined card sales to domestic and foreign customers within 1 kilometer increased more sharply in areas closer to the stores. Card sales at nearby businesses within 200 meters rose by an average of 36.0%, more than double the 15.9% increase in the 600-meter-to-1-kilometer zone. Sales in the 200-to-600-meter zone rose by 22.3%. Within 200 meters, sales at nearby businesses increased around 10 of the 11 stores; in each of the two outer zones, sales rose around all 11 stores. Beyond 1 kilometer, the growth rate was higher in the 2-to-3-kilometer zone, at 12.8%, than in the 1-to-2-kilometer zone, at 8.4%.

By sector, card sales at clothing, fashion and accessory shops within 1 kilometer increased by an average of 32.0%. Sales growth at nearby clothing stores, which sell items that overlap with Musinsa's offerings, was higher than at restaurants and at bakeries, cafes and fast-food restaurants, which each saw growth of 17.8%. Sales at cosmetics and health and beauty (H&B) stores rose by an average of 51.5%, while those at household goods shops and Daiso stores increased by 41.4%. Large increases around some stores drove up the average for cosmetics and H&B shops.

Sales in Seongsu and Seoul Forest Rise 43.7%

Seongsu and Seoul Forest recorded the largest increases in nearby card sales and in the share of spending by foreign customers. Card sales at businesses within 1 kilometer of Musinsa Standard Seongsu and Musinsa Store Seongsu rose by an average of 43.7% compared with before the stores opened. They were followed by Gangnam at 24.9%, Hongdae at 23.7%, Seomyeon in Busan at 20.4%, Myeongdong at 19.7%, Hannam at 7.9% and Dongseong-ro in Daegu at 4.8%.

In Seongsu and Seoul Forest, the number of transactions increased by 20.6%. Sales to domestic customers rose by just 0.2%, while the share of total sales accounted for by foreign customers' spending grew by 14.4 percentage points. In Seomyeon, Busan, the share of spending by foreign customers rose by 11.9 percentage points even as sales to domestic customers fell by 0.1%. In Gangnam and Hongdae, sales to domestic customers also increased by 7.9% and 5.3%, respectively.

Consumer spending patterns differed between Seongsu and Myeongdong, where stores opened this year. Musinsa Mega Store Seongsu, a roughly 2,000-pyeong store that opened in April 2026, recorded about 7 billion won in sales during its first 50 days. According to the presentation materials, foreign customers accounted for more than 40% of purchases. From May, the month after it opened, through October, card sales at nearby businesses within 1 kilometer rose by 39.6% compared with the same period a year earlier. Sales to domestic customers increased by 3.0%.

Spending by domestic customers also rose sharply near Musinsa Store Myeongdong, which opened in January 2026. In the six months starting the month after it opened, card sales at nearby businesses within 1 kilometer increased by 51.2% compared with the same period a year earlier, while sales to domestic customers rose by 30.1%.

Customers Most Often Visited Nearby Restaurants on the Day They Paid at Musinsa

Separately from their comparison of sales before and after the stores opened, the researchers examined card transaction records from 11 Musinsa stores in 2025. Among the Musinsa customers included in the analysis, 41.8% also made a purchase at a restaurant within 1 kilometer on the same day. They were followed by customers who paid at bakeries, cafes and fast-food restaurants (13.8%) and at clothing, fashion and accessory shops (12.5%).

Looking at the 20 business sectors within 3 kilometers by distance, the share of Musinsa customers who also made a purchase at a nearby business on the same day was highest in the 200-to-400-meter zone, at 36.5%. The zone within 200 meters followed at 34.6%. Customers who made purchases in multiple zones were counted in each zone.

Professor Cho Chunhan of Gyeonggi University of Science and Technology said, "For foreign tourists who discover Musinsa online, choosing and buying clothes in person at a store in Korea also becomes part of the trip. Transaction records showing that customers who visit a store also go to nearby restaurants or other clothing shops on the same day demonstrate that fashion stores can serve as anchors for a commercial district."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.