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Shopping districts outside of Seoul enjoy significant growth

Shopping districts outside of Seoul enjoy significant growth

Posted November. 07, 2015 07:30,   

한국어

The Jungwang Park in Songdo, Incheon, where the celebrity triplets of a Korean actor Song Il-guk are known to visit every now and then, are considered the ‘Central Park’ for the local residents. Passing through the sun-lit skyscrapers and high-rising hotels is an artificial waterway with canoes, kayaks, and boasts cleaving through the sea water.

The business areas around the central park in Incheon are showing the sharpest growth rate not only in the city but nationwide. According to BC Card Big Data analysis, the business areas are seeing an average 61% of sales growth per annum since 2013. Considering that the annual growth rate in general was merely 7%, the business zone is practically drawing in all the money in the city. Noteworthy is the fact that the proportions of consumers in their 40s and 50s were higher than other business districts with 30.4% and 17.6%, respectively, as the district is surrounded by residential areas. “In the case of Songdo, the business zone was formed naturally to meet the demands of growing population of residents, so there are more investment demands for new business establishments. The city’s location and exotic views are also contributing to the growing business volume,” explained Professor Kim Ho-cheol of Dankook University.

There is a clear shift in the business zones of the six metropolitan cities and the city of Jeju in addition to Seoul. In Busan, for instance, a district called Café Street in Jeonpo-dong is enjoying growing popularity. The street where electrics, lightings, and hardware stores were clustered has turned into a café street with coffer aroma. While it is one block away from Seomyeon, which passes the largest human traffic in Busan, the Café Street is very popular with young people as small and original café places are gathered together instead of large-sized franchise stores.

In the metropolitan city of Gwangju, business areas are cropping up in new residential areas instead of the traditional shopping districts such as Chungjang-ro or Geumnam-ro. Suwan district in Gwangsan-gu, in particular, is growing the fastest in credit card sales. “Two years ago, I moved to Suwan district, and since then I am meeting my friends and doing my shopping within the district. The facilities are clean as the area is recently developed and close to boot. So these days, I don’t take the trouble to visit Chungjang-ro anymore,” said Park Seon-mi (30), an office worker living in Suwan district. Most visitors are in their 30s (33.4%) and 40s (35.6%). The district is popular with young married couples who moved in the newly developed residential areas.

Being a magnet for Chinese tourists, Baozen Street in Jeju City, Jeju Island, is growing fast as well. While its original name was Rodeo Street, the city government changed the name after some 11,000 employees of Baozen Group, a Chinese health product seller, visited the street en masse in 2011. The street became an essential tourist destination for Chinese visitors since then, with a growing number of signs with both Korean and Chinese written on them. A variety of entertainments and foods were introduced to target Chinese tourists, and the street is now considered a must-visit place by even Korean tourists visiting Jeju Island. As the street is visited by big pocket tourists, the average credit card payment per transaction is higher than other business districts at 44,290 won.



minki@donga.com