Electromart is a new retail platform proposed by Emart of Shinsegae Group to quench the need for male-targeted hypermarkets. As the saying goes, “boys will be boys,” the brand caters to male adults with a playful and attractive destination offering experiences and services that go beyond merely selling home appliances, electronic devices, and toys.

Electromart is an entertaining playground with touchpoints such as a video arcade, an indoor baseball-batting cage, and a bar, which are intuitively placed to serve as a buffer in between shopping, extending the length of customer journeys. The retail space seeks to bring up endearing reflections and fond memories from boyhood obsessing over superheroes.

In doing so, the Brand Strategy Team of Emart released a comic book series through the creation of the Electroman, a fictional superhero who possesses electrical super powers. Elements from these comic books act as a key design language throughout the retail spaces. Bold and colorful comic strips, blown in scale, outline the upper periphery of the store to unravel a story within the space. Electromart, spanning over 4,500 square feet at each store location, is not an ordinary consumer electronics store.

It reaches out to a broader range of customers by providing various specialty and hobby zones that sell high-end collectible toy figures, drones, premium smart devices, camping gears, grooming products, and more. Changes in materials and furniture styles are used strategically to differentiate each zone. For instance, the home appliances section is designed in an industrial manner, whereas the bar is carried out in a cozier mood through brick walls and wooden beams.

Consistent application of brand identity colors, yellow and blue, complemented with energetic graphic signage tie the differently styled zones into a cohesive space. Positioned in each zone are full-sized standups of the Electroman promoting select products sold in the corresponding zone. His humorous facial expressions and vintage comic letterings add wit and levity to the space.

Design: Dooyang Architecture
Photography: Seung Hyun Yoo, Bum Gyoung Gim