The photo provided by Nike Korea on Nov. 16, 2019, shows G-Dragon, the leader of K-pop boy band BIGBANG wearing a pair of Nike sneakers made in collaboration between the artist and the company.
SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — An increasing number of South Korean young people are turning to so-called ‘Sneaker Tech’, in which they can make profits by buying and selling rare used sneakers.
A YouTube video went viral last month when a department store in Daegu sold limited-edition Nike golf shoes.
As soon as the department store opened, dozens of people rushed to the Nike shop, with some running up the escalator the wrong way to buy the limited-edition items.
The primary factor behind the rising popularity of Sneaker Tech among teenagers is that its cost burden is lower than other investment options.
Moreover, in most cases, the prices of limited-edition sneakers do not fall below the initial selling price. Accordingly, you can make profits as long as you can buy them.
The size of the nation’s sneaker resale market was estimated at more than 1 trillion won (US$833 million) last year, a sharp increase from 500 billion won in 2020.
Against this backdrop, an increasing number of South Korea’s major retail giants are making forays into the sneaker sales business.
Lotte Department Store, for example, expanded the presence of ‘Sneaker Bar’ stores that focus on selling high-priced limited-edition sneakers. The department store chain opened ‘Sneaker Bar’ stores at its 10 outlets across the country.
Hyundai Department Store is running the ‘BGZT Lab,’ a specialist in the re-sale of sneakers, at the Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido. Since its opening in late last year, more than 170,000 customers have visited the shop.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
