Louis Vuitton to exit remaining Korean downtown duty-free locations

SOUTH KOREA. French luxury goods house Louis Vuitton is to close its remaining downtown duty-free doors in the Republic, reliable local sources have confirmed to The Moodie Davitt Report.

Louis Vuitton has three downtown duty-free stores in Seoul – at Lotte Duty Free and Shinsegae Duty Free in Myeong-dong and The Shilla Duty Free in Jung-gu.

The three travel retailers have been informed of the brand’s decision and are negotiating the precise timing of the closures, with the respective exits expected to take place on a phased basis over the next two years.

The Moodie Davitt Report has approached all three players for comment.

A spokesperson for one of the trio, who asked to remain anonymous, took a sanguine view, commenting, “Louis Vuitton appears to be shifting its focus toward airport duty-free operations rather than withdrawing from the duty-free channel altogether.

“The planned reduction of its downtown duty-free presence also seems to be in line with the brand’s broader global strategy.”

Louis Vuitton had previously closed its doors at Lotte Duty Free Jeju in December 2021; The Shilla Duty Free in Jeju, and Lotte Duty Free in Busan both in March 2022, and Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, Seoul in 2025,

As with those closures, the three upcoming Seoul exits reflect a refocusing of the brand’s travel retail presence around airport stores and department stores, with the latter seeing a recent surge in spending by FIT shoppers.

Purely a question of FIT For decades from 1980 onwards, luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior and Hermès served as beacons for legions of, first, Japanese group tourists and then, from early this century, their Chinese equivalents, writes Martin Moodie. Those halcyon days are over. The group tour business has waned inexorably over recent years and, as reported, for several key luxury brands today the tourist business in Seoul department stores is larger than the downtown duty-free sector. Louis Vuitton’s downtown duty-free decision contrasts markedly with its recent opening of a duplex store at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 in partnership with Shinsegae Duty Free. The store highlights the maison’s long-standing connection to the ‘Art of Travel’ and is targeted fair and square at the FIT shopper. As a Shinsegae Duty Free spokesperson commented, “We will continue to strengthen our role as a strategic partner for global luxury brands by attracting more individual travellers and delivering differentiated customer experiences.” No change then in Louis Vuitton’s long-time commitment to the travelling shopper. But where it chooses to serve them in the Republic has changed forever. ✈