AK Plaza () is a South Korean

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

franchise owned by the Aekyung Industrial Co. Ltd.

History

Hyung-suk Chah (채형석) began construction of the first department store in March 1991 in

Guro District Guro District (Guro-gu) is a district of Seoul, South Korea, which was separated from Yeongdeungpo District on April 1, 1980. Located in the southwestern part of the city, where besides Yangcheon District and Geumcheon District Guro District ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. The store opened on September 10, 1993, as the Aekyung Department Store. The store had five

basement A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...

floors and seven aboveground floors, with a total cost of 120 billion won (120 million US dollars). The success of the Guro store was allegedly used as the basis for opening other branches. In July 2000, Aekyung Group was chosen to open a store in

Incheon International Airport Incheon International Airport (IIA; ) (sometimes referred to as Seoul–Incheon International Airport) is the largest airport in South Korea. It is the primary airport serving the Seoul Capital Area and one of the largest and busiest airports ...

after

Hotel Shilla Hotel Shilla ( ko, 신라호텔) is a South Korean operator of luxury hotels and duty-free shops. It is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. The company is an affiliate of Samsung. History Hotel Shilla started operations in March 1979 at ...

gave up its

subcontractor A subcontractor is an individual or (in many cases) a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract. Put simply the role of a subcontractor is to execute the job they are hired by the contractor f ...

rights. The store was opened on March 29, 2001, as the 'AK Duty Free.' It was the first AK

duty-free shop A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who ...

. The Aekyung Group opened an Aekyung Department Store branch in

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a populati ...

on February 14, 2003. The store had one basement floor and six aboveground floors. It was the biggest

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...

construction in South Korea at that time. In March 2007, the Aekyung Group took over ₩470 billion's ($461,596,000) worth of intermediary business from

Samsung C&T Corporation Samsung C&T Corporation ("Construction & Trading Corporation"; formerly Samsung Corporation; Korean: 삼성물산), is a South Korean construction and engineering company. It was founded in 1938 as the first Samsung company and was initially in ...

, including the Samsung Plaza, the first department store in

Bundang-gu Bundang-gu is the largest and most populous district ('' gu'') of Seongnam, a major city in the Seoul Capital Area, South Korea. Bundang-gu is one of South Korea's wealthiest and highest developed areas, being the nation's first and largest comple ...

which had opened on November 1, 1997. On February 3, 2009, the Aekyung Group announced it will change its

brand image A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

to AK Plaza. The logo of Aekyung Department Store, Samsung Plaza, and the online site was changed AK Plaza on March 2. The

Pyeongtaek Pyeongtaek () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Located in the southwestern part of the province, Pyeongtaek was founded as a union of two districts in 940, during the Goryeo dynasty. It was elevated to city status in 1986 and is home to ...

branch was opened on April 24, 2009, as the fourth store. The

Wonju Wonju () is the most populous city in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city is located approximately east of Seoul. Wonju was the site of three crucial battles during the Korean War. Geography Wonju sits at the southwestern corner of Gangw ...

branch was opened on April 6, 2012, with 5 basement stories and 7 above ground stories, though the company website claims it was opened on March 6.

Developments

Stores

* Guro Main Store (구로본점), adjacent to Guro Station in

Guro-gu Guro District (Guro-gu) is a district of Seoul, South Korea, which was separated from Yeongdeungpo District on April 1, 1980. Located in the southwestern part of the city, where besides Yangcheon District and Geumcheon District Guro District h ...

* Suwon Store (수원점), sharing a building with

Suwon Station Suwon Station is a railway station in the city of Suwon, South Korea. The station was completely redeveloped in 2002 and 2003, and is now integrated with the Aekyung Shopping Mall (AK Plaza). This station serves Inter-city railway Gyeongbu Line K ...

Paldal-gu Paldal-gu is the central district of the city of Suwon in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Administrative divisions Paldal-gu is divided into the following "''dong''"s. * Godeung-dong (고등동) * Hwaseo-dong (화서동), divided in turn into Hwaseo 1 a ...

Gyeonggi-do Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

* Bundang Store (분당점) (formerly Samsung Plaza), above Seohyeon Station in

Seongnam Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential cit ...

, Gyeonggi-do * Pyeongtaek Store (평택점), adjacent to Pyeongtaek Station in

, Gyeonggi-do * Wonju Store (원주점) in

, Gangwon-do

References

Department stores of South Korea {{retail-company-stub