Enter SMTOWN, the imposing center of K-pop veneration. Its grandeur and central location turn Klive into a mom-and-pop store by comparison. Like an austere temple receiving pilgrims who travel across distant lands and seas to reach the holy site, it has become a hot destination since it opened its doors to K-pop fans and tourists on January 14, 2015. Located in one of the most prosperous sections of the Gangnam District on the south side of Seoul, the seven-story structure is illuminated by a brilliant combination of natural light shining through bluish glass panels and dazzling spotlights that strategically accentuate its futuristic architectural details. I visited SMTOWN on April 26, 2015, roughly three months after the venue opened its doors to the public. The overall impression was one of fresh- ness and brilliance. Stepping into SMTOWN is like walking into an “SM box,” K-pop lingo for a brightly lit, ultra-sleek studio set often found in SM artists’ music videos (think of the sets in Super Junior’s “Mr. Simple,” SHINee’s “Your Number” dance version, and Girls’ Generation’s “The Boys,” to name just a few). SMTOWN is a motley assemblage of high-fashion flagship stores, luxuri- ous beauty salons, comfort-inducing spas, futuristic spaceships, multiplex film theaters, and clinically immaculate cafés, in which hologram theater is just one extension of an overall feast of consumerist desire. The monochromatic entrance to SMTOWN amid the busy shopping mall resembles that of a high-end Las Vegas hotel for its unabashed stylistic mix- ing of austerity and kitsch (figure 10). Glossy black granite slate columns flank both sides of the spacious entrance; like brilliant constellations in the dusky sky, thousands of mirror inlays showcasing SM band names and geometric signs that resemble the symbols designating each band are found on the onyx- like surface in a neat pattern, surrounding a large “SMTOWN” logo. Once visi- tors enter the first floor of the “Welcome Zone,” featuring a “light-emanating fantastic media wall,” on which members of SM boy band SHINee greet them with irresistible smiles, they are led upstairs by an escalator to SUM, the celeb- rity shop on the second floor. In SMTOWN, visitors enter through the gift shop as well as exit through it. If the entrance set the ambience for SMTOWN to signify ultimate trendi- ness, then SUM on the second floor turns that ambience into fuel for the ma- chine of consumption. Walking through SUM provides an actual litmus test for how long visitors can go without shopping. It is a space designed to showcase “unique lifestyles presented by celebrities,” with merchandise ranging from