Arket to launch in Korea with first physical store outside Europe

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 9, 2020

H&M Group is continuing its international rollout for one of its newer brands, Arket, with the “modern-day market and lifestyle destination” set to debut in South Korea.

The opening won't happen until next year, with the date as yet unspecified, but it continues the parent company’s targeting of the Asian market as a key region for growth.

The new store will introduce the brand’s collections of "New Nordic everyday design for men, women, children and the home" not only to the Korean market for the first time in a physical space, but also to Asia with the brand’s very first location outside of Europe.

Arket MD Pernilla Wohlfahrt said the new store will be in the capital city, Seoul, although like the opening date, the exact location isn’t yet known. 

Wohlfahrt added that the “aesthetics and values of sustainable design” that sum up Arket “have had a strong following for many years” in South Korea.

Arket was launched in August 2017 and its rollout internationally has been taken very steadily. It currently has only 21 physical stores in major European cities including Copenhagen, Amsterdam, London and Berlin.

But it has a much wider international profile having launched a global shopping site back in 2019. It also recently opened a digital flagship store on China’s Tmall platform. Like the planned physical Seoul store, this was a first step outside of Europe.