Shinsegae Department Store announced Monday that its Gangnam branch became Korea’s second retail outlet to surpass the threshold of 1 trillion won ($894.1 million) in sales last year.

The branch store in southern Seoul registered 1.09 trillion won in revenue, about 18 percent up from 920 billion won in 2009, the company said.

Korea’s retail industry is estimated to have grown 7-8 percent in 2010 as domestic consumption made a sharp upturn led by the rich.

Lotte Department Store’s main branch in downtown Seoul exceeded 1 trillion won in sales for the first time in the industry in 1999.

Lotte expects its Jamsil branch in southeastern Seoul to join the top-seller league this year, with revenue topping 940 billion won last year.

According to an industry survey, there are only a dozen department store branches worldwide that earn more than 1 trillion won a year, mostly in Japan.

Korea’s retail industry ― including department stores, discount outlets, convenience stores and online shops ― is likely to see record high sales of more than 200 trillion won this year.

A think tank affiliated with Lotte estimates Korean department stores’ combined turnover to stand at 26.8 trillion won this year, up nearly 11 percent from 2010.

Lotte became the first department store chain last year to post more than 10 trillion won in domestic sales. It aims at 12.1 trillion won this year, up almost 20 percent.

Hyundai Department Store saw its sales grow 23 percent to 5.8 trillion won last year, while Shinsegae achieved a 26 percent increase in sales to 5.4 trillion won.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)