Lotte Begins to Muscle its Way into Teaching English in Korea
English teachers in Korea know the Lotte brand fairly well, due to the conglomerate’s reach into burgers and amusement parks. Now, one particular Lotte Department Store has added a ‘specialized academy’ facility to the shopping environment and has become active in attracting parents with young children. Starting this month, Lotte has opened up an English kindergarten in a department store for the first time in the domestic distribution industry. Lotte Department Store opened its first branch of ‘Creverse Kids’, an English kindergarten brand operated by ‘Cheongdahm Learning’, an English education company, on the 4th floor of Lotte Mall World.
In the past, there have been many kids cafe-type stores in department stores, but it is unusual to see such a specialized educational facility where native English teachers partake in classes. In this space, English, math, and coding education are being conducted with classes being launched from March 12th, introducing a whole new dimension to teaching English in Korea.
Students who want to take classes can attend for 2-3 hours after making a reservation by phone.
The ‘Junior Golf Academy’, which opened in the Jamsil branch of Lotte Department Store, is also gaining popularity. In September of last year, the Jamsil location set up a one-stop golf hall where you can shop for golf-related products and receive golf lessons.
Junior golf classes at Lotte
This is a space where children aged 7 to 13 can learn golf, and golf lessons are held twice a week according to a total of 8 themes, including putting, swinging, and torso rotation. There is also an adult golf lesson course in this space, however, many young students are getting involved where more than 30% of the total students are those under the age of 10.
As for costs, the tuition fee for Creverse Kids varies from class to class. ESL, an English class, is 50,000 won for 2-3 hours for 5-7 years old, math class is 40,000 won for 2-3 hours for 1st and 2nd graders of elementary school, and 2-3 hours of coding class for 6-7-year-olds is 40,000 won. All costs include material costs.
In addition, the Junior Golf Academy offers classes for 1 hour twice a week for 8 lessons a month at 450,000 won. There is also a separate registration fee of 10,000 won. Classes consist of a 30-minute golf class and a 30-minute fitness class.
Meanwhile, Lotte Department Store’s specialized academy space for children is expected to expand further. Department stores are now becoming places where children can learn while mothers shop, in order to maximize the competitiveness of offline spaces that are distinct from online shopping.
Also, in the first half of this year, Lotte Department Store plans to open ‘Promom Kinder’, a membership-based English kids club, at Lotte Department Store’s Pohang and Ilsan branches.
Yoon Jeong-hye, head of Lotte Department Store’s ‘Infant&TOY’, stated, “Academy-type stores in department stores are evolving into places that can provide more specialized education to children beyond the existing children’s content focused on play. We will do our best to help parents and children receive a variety of specialized education from now on.”
When you arrive at the airport, you can connect to WiFi while you wait for your next move (someone picking you up, or a bus). If you’re lucky, internet in your apartment will still be running from the teacher before you. Most will have to wait to get internet set up at home.