Shinsegae Centum City : World Largest Department Store

Shinsegae Centum City is the world largest department store now surpassing the Macy's department store in New York City. Actually, Shinsegae was originally part of  Samsung group and it’s separated in the 1990s along with CJ Group (Food/Chemicals/Entertainment), Saehan Group (Electronic Media/Apparel/Textiles), and the Hansol Group (Paper/Telecom). Now it’s own the brand Shinsegae and E-mart.
Shinsegae have a famous long history. Now the building of the main branch is currently used as luxury hall. It is the oldest department store in Korea. It was a store and was opened from 1930 as the Gyeongseong (Keijo in Japanese, colonial name of Seoul) branch of Mitsukoshi. In May 2006, Shinsegae revealed plans to buy all of the Wal-Mart stores in Korea. Then all of the country’s Wal-Mart outlets were re-branded as E-mart on October 2006. So, E-Mart is a subsidiary of Shinsegae and a large discount store chain that founded in South Korea.

Shinsegae is a huge shopping place and entertainment complex. It has a floor area of 509,810 sq. meters (5,487,594.84 sq. ft.) and makes it the world record for the largest department store. At the east wing, it has 14-story that consisting of the department store, gym, restaurant, café, a multiplex cinema, and much more.  While in the west wing it has 9-story as house of the art gallery. There are not only shopping areas but also various entertainment facilities such as a spa and an ice rink.

Claudio Silvestrin which is one of the globally renowned architect is an Italian architect, and together with Callison, an American architect and some design firm completed the Shinsegae Centum City Department Store with the concept of “golden sea”. Shinsegae Centum City Departement Store has emerged as the landmark in Busan. Shinsegae Centum City Department Store is located near the famous Haeundae beach in Busan.