[The Public = Reporter Jo Doo-hee] Lotte Department Store announced on the 31st that it has opened Lepicerie, the largest premium grocery in the northeastern trade area, on the B1 floor of its Nowon branch. The name Lepicerie blends Lotte’s "L" with the French word épicerie (grocery), signaling a focus on top-tier ingredients.
When Lepicerie first launched at Lotte’s Incheon store in 2023, the concept emphasized minimizing home-cooking hassle and maximizing convenience. For the Nowon location, Lotte kept that convenience-first approach and layered on a “taste-first” fresh-gourmet experience.
Geared to serve Nowon’s 500,000-person catchment area, the store positions itself as an elevated grocery destination. Lotte analyzed shopping cycles, purchase quantities, and priorities to optimize the entire shopping journey for customers. Natural wood tones, marble finishes, and seasonal design touches add a refined, sensory vibe—think practical shopping with a luxury feel.
Lepicerie’s fresh-gourmet programming mixes customer preference data—how people pick fresh foods, prepare dishes, and enjoy their meals—with expert-led tasting panels. The result is a broader, curated lineup of flavorful options.
At the meat counter, hanwoo beef is sorted into three taste-focused tiers: Elpremier Hanwoo, Lepicerie Hanwoo, and Local Hanwoo. Pork is treated with the same care: breeds like purebred Duroc and Jeju black pork are highlighted by origin, and Lotte becomes the first Korean department store to open a Premium Pork Select Shop equipped with pork-only aging rooms.
In produce, Lotte launched a new With Farmer brand that moves sourcing from region-based selection to partnerships with verified top producers who maintain outstanding quality year after year. Fruit with cosmetic blemishes—perfect in taste but imperfect in appearance—will be sold under the "Bojogae Fruit" label at sensible prices, so flavor is guaranteed without the premium look.
Another standout at Nowon’s Lepicerie is "Dynamic Fresh." Fresh food is presented as an experience so shoppers can see, smell, and sample quality right on the sales floor.
In seafood, Lotte teamed up with tuna distributor Sajo to open a Live Sushi Bar. Shoppers can take part in events like Chef’s Omakase and Tuna Catch Day and watch sushi packages come to life. There’s also an on-the-spot seafood HMR corner where customers pick fish, vegetables, and seasonings to create seasoned fish dishes and soups right away.
Lotte introduced Korean Cuisine Archive, a premium banchan (side-dish) platform developed with Daechi-dong’s famed banchan shop Masinneun Chan. The Archive hosts roughly 170 premium side-dish varieties and includes a self-serve bar where customers mix and match 12 types of seasoned greens and 8 categories of pan-fried items by type and portion. The offering also features The Jangdan Bean Tofu, which makes tofu and soy milk on site from 100% Paju Jangdan soybeans, and Danghyeonmidam, which prepares steamed rice cakes (sirutteok and seolgi) three times daily.
There’s more: a Peanut Paste Zone lets shoppers grind fresh nut butters from pistachios or almonds on the spot. Lepicerie also offers monthly-limited sesame and perilla oils pressed on the 1st of each month—sold only for that month to guarantee peak freshness.
To mark the opening, Lotte is featuring 409 supermarket items across meat, seafood, produce, side dishes, and groceries at limited special prices. Shoppers can expect brand promotions like buy-2-get-1 deals, and the first 1,000 customers who make purchases will receive a Lepicerie Baku bag as a commemorative gift.
With Lepicerie’s debut, Nowon moves closer to becoming the region’s go-to gourmet landmark. Last October, Lotte launched L.VINO, a specialty liquor space with thousands of SKUs, alongside F&B concepts like Mildo and Dress by Comini. Later this year, the store plans to open a premium food hall and a dessert pavilion featuring nationally known eateries and collaborations with star chefs.
