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At the Gumi Seonsan market, where No Brand, a win-win E-Mart store, opened in August 2017, the number of visitors is steadily increasing as young entrepreneurs enter one after another. E-mart provided
The Jang Seungbaek Market in Mansu-dong, near the Incheon Namdong Industrial Complex, was once an “outlet” market. When it opened in the early 1990s, it attracted attention as a modern “street market” with 7 2- to 4-story buildings and public parking. More than 180 stores on the market were staples from tens of thousands of furniture apartment complexes in the surrounding area.
However, the good times didn’t last long. In 2012, when a supermarket chain was built about 350 meters from the market, the number of visitors began to decrease. As the merchants exited one by one, more than 20 stores were left vacant for several years. When No Brand, the win-win E-Mart store, opened in Jangseungbaek, Incheon in November last year, the market was on the brink of life and death.
‘No brand’ as a lifeline for a traditional market
“If it weren’t for E-Mart, the market would already be closed,” said Mr. Seung-baek Jang, former president of the Mayor’s Merchants Association, who met on the 11th. He runs a beef head soup at the beginning of the market and is the protagonist who persuades merchants to attract brands without brands.
He attended a government-sponsored meeting where the presidents of the traditional market merchants met, and after hearing about the non-brand, he asked to enter the store directly. President Huh lamented: “When No-Brand arrives, young office workers stop by the market to buy food on their way home from work.” “If No-Brand is forced to take a break on the second and fourth Sunday, the market is quiet as if it is dead.” . Although it is a win-win store, its opening hours are subject to ‘regulation’, so it must close at 8pm.
The Win-Win Store is a social contribution activity started by E-Mart with the aim of coexisting with the traditional market. It began with the intention of attracting young customers to the market by opening a non-brand, which is a collection of E-Mart’s own brand (PB) products, in the market’s vacant stores. An E-Mart official said: “The objective is to operate in a way that meets the breakeven point (BEP) during the period of the store’s lease.” We also provide a space for him to do it. “
Local governments change mandatory holidays
Starting with the first store in Dangjin Fish Market this year, there are already 15 stores nationwide, including Gumi, Anseong, Yeoju, Seoul Dongdaemun, Daegu, Andong, Jecheon, Donghae, Samcheok, Daejeon, Incheon, Mungyeong, Jumunjin and Sejong City. I built a nest in a traditional market.
After several months of persuading each store, Kim Soo-yeon, the market director Gumi Seonsan, who opened the No-Brand store in 2017, said, “As No-Brand has entered the second floor of the market, it has Been vacant for 10 years, the Youth Mall is also going live. ” “In other markets, I hear news about the closing of deals, but our market traders are doing well.” About 15 days ago, with government support, an elevator was also installed in the shopping center. Jecheon Central Market, which did not attract brands in May last year, also showed that sales held at last year’s level.
With word of mouth spreading that ‘no brand saves the market’ recently, more than 20 traditional markets across the country are coming to ‘SOS’ at E-Mart. These are places that came together just before death due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) and the spread of ‘indirect’ consumption.
As the ‘win-win store effect’ has been demonstrated, local governments are changing their mandatory holidays. Dangjin City changed the unbranded fish market holiday from Sunday to Wednesday. Jecheon and Donghae changed the closing days of the win-win stores to the first and third Sunday in view of the fact that the mandatory closing of large supermarkets in the building is the second and fourth Sunday.
However, in metropolitan cities like Seoul and Incheon, such a flexible response is difficult. An official from a hypermarket pointed out that “although the change of holidays is voluntary on the part of the heads of local governments, in the case of metropolitan cities it is difficult for mayors to move separately if the mayor decides.”
Incheon = Reporter Park Donghui [email protected]
