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Neighborhood bakeries

Posted January. 22, 2018 07:37,   

Updated January. 22, 2018 08:35

한국어

The KTX Dongdaegu Station is recently witnessing a new phenomenon, where people are lining up to purchase bread from a bakery called Samsong Bakery. The most popular menu is corn kernel bread. The bread, which is also widely known as addictive, has its uniqueness in the softness of the corn kernels. People who buy the bread become surprised as they see the phrase “Founded in 1957.”

Samsong Bakery first opened its doors at Nammoon Market in Daegu in 1957. It was an ordinary bakery for more than 50 years and even people who lived in Daegu were not aware of the Bakery. Overcoming hardships such as a fire, the bakery survived for three generations and developed the corn kernel bread in 2008. Seven years later, the bakery opened its stores in Dong Daegu Station and the Hyundai Department Store branches in Daegu and Samseong-dong in Seoul. Since then, it has been expanding its stores and grown into a brand worth 24 billion won of sales per year.

In Daejeon, there is a bakery called Sung Sim Dang, which opened its doors in 1956. The Bakery is filled with people not in just the store within the city but also the one at KTX Daejeon Station. Many people who pass by the station stop by to purchase fried streusel and get on the train. Lee Sung Dang (founded in 1945) in Gunsan, which is the oldest bakery in Korea, always has a long line formed in front of the bakery. It gets even more hectic when its sweet red bean bun is fresh out of the oven.

Bakeries in the neighborhood are gaining popularity these days. There are even people who visit various bakeries in different neighborhoods such as Napoleon Bakery or Hyoja Bakery in Seoul, Baek Gu Dang in Busan, Pung Nyeon Bakery in Jeonju, Mamos Bakery in Andong and Colombang Bakery in Mokpo. There is something special about these bakeries, such as sticking to baking for generations, making devotions to create the best taste, contributing to the society through bread and taking interest in history and memories. These are the charm that large franchises can never mimic. This reporter hopes these bakeries will be able to endure more time and become hundred-year-old bakeries.



Kwang-Pyo Lee kplee@donga.com