South Korean confectionery and bakery company SPC Group has turned aesthetic and creative to add value to its corporate brand.

Its recent opening of “Square Gangnam” building which hosts a number of dining brands under the group in southern Seoul, offers a new concept to dining space with a gallery-like ambience.

Guests are treated with artwork from renowned Argentinean street artist Martin Ron from the entrance. The wall of Shake Shack located on the first floor displays a piece by Korean graphic designer Cha In-chul. The walls of Dunkin and Baskin Robbins stores are also decorated with hot air balloons and donuts created by an American design group Osmose.

SPC locations have been gaining fame for their artistic features.

For the five-story building “Baskin-Robbins Hive Hannam” which opened in July 2020, SPC Group hired Osmose as the creative director and the firm added a distinctive mural on the side for a “kaleidoscopic melding” of the West Coast and the Korean cafe vibe.

The Baskin Robbins in the Hanok Village located in Samcheong-dong which first received visitors in October 2020, blended the ice cream hangout into the traditional Korean atmosphere.

Flagship store “Passion5 Terrace,” a bakery and restaurant store on the underground floor of its desert gallery building “Passion5” in Hannam, has been enjoying steady visits since its opening in November 2020. Passion5 Terrace has a garden in the courtyard that creates a classic but modern ambience. It also features a stone milling machine where customers can see how bread is made from Egyptian ancient wheat flour.

The “Dunkin Live” and “Baskin Robbins Parnas Mall” which opened in Gangnam in November last year, were also designed as artistic spaces with many Instagram-worthy photo spots.

The company has used the pandemic lull to experiment with space concept.

It has employed more than 100 in-house designers for interior design, graphic and package design, and visual merchandising (VMD) to carry out SPC Vice President Hur Hee-soo’s design-centered management philosophy.

It also seeks out world-renowned design studios and artists from various fields to create unique stores.

By Song Kyung-eun and Susan Lee

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]