I agree. The two Incheon Airport stores usually have good stock (but no Birkins or Kellys). Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the stores in Seoul - the inventory has been very low the past year or so, especially during the past few months. However, the best places to try your luck are Dosan Park in Shinsa-dong (Korea's flagship store), Lotte Hotel Duty Free store in Sodong-dong, and the Shilla Hotel Duty Free store in Jangchung-dong. Dosan Park is by far the largest store with the most inventory (especially rtw) and you have less competition at the duty free stores since Korean nationals aren't able to spend over $3,000 at duty free.
My SAs at the various Hermes here in Seoul tell me that the reason for such low inventory (lower than "normal") these days is due to the increasing amount of Japanese and Chinese tourists wiping out the stores. There is an especially large number of Chinese tourists these days because of the Lunar New Year holiday.
In regards to SAs in Korea, most are very friendly and accommodating. However, you won't find any Birkins or Kellys on the shelves since those are always for VIP customers (however, there are currently a couple mini/tiny special edition birkins at the Lotte and Shilla Hotel duty free stores). In the past you would sometimes see Birkins and Kellys at the Lotte and Shilla Hotel duty free stores, but now even those are for VIP customer. If you're lucky, you may see bolides and lindys on the shelves but most of them will have a "reserved" tag next to it. Most are actually reserved but sometimes the tags are placed there to prevent walk-through customers from handling the bags. So if you see something you like, just ask them to show it to you and they'll mostly likely take it out of the display case.
My SAs at the various Hermes here in Seoul tell me that the reason for such low inventory (lower than "normal") these days is due to the increasing amount of Japanese and Chinese tourists wiping out the stores. There is an especially large number of Chinese tourists these days because of the Lunar New Year holiday.
In regards to SAs in Korea, most are very friendly and accommodating. However, you won't find any Birkins or Kellys on the shelves since those are always for VIP customers (however, there are currently a couple mini/tiny special edition birkins at the Lotte and Shilla Hotel duty free stores). In the past you would sometimes see Birkins and Kellys at the Lotte and Shilla Hotel duty free stores, but now even those are for VIP customer. If you're lucky, you may see bolides and lindys on the shelves but most of them will have a "reserved" tag next to it. Most are actually reserved but sometimes the tags are placed there to prevent walk-through customers from handling the bags. So if you see something you like, just ask them to show it to you and they'll mostly likely take it out of the display case.
