GS25, CU, and Other Floating Houses... Unaffected by Heavy Rain
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] On the 3rd, despite heavy rain in Seoul and other areas causing the Han River riverside park to be submerged, convenience stores located in Han River parks were found to be safe without flood damage. This is thanks to the design of the 'floating house' (water-floating building) that moves the building up and down according to the water level when the riverside is flooded.
According to the convenience store industry, convenience stores located on the Han River riverside are designed in one of two ways: the floating house method or the mobile container method. Container-type stores are movable stores that can be relocated using forklifts. However, when sudden heavy rain floods the Han River riverside, water often fills the stores, rendering them unusable or causing them to be washed away to the West Sea.
In contrast, the floating house method creates sealed spaces at the bottom to generate buoyancy strong enough to support the building's weight, allowing the building to automatically float when water rises. When water levels rise, the building floats, but steel pillars anchored at the edges can support up to 12 meters in height, preventing the building from drifting away.
Every time heavy rain falls in Seoul or the water level rises due to the release from Paldang Dam, stores on the Han River riverside suffer flood damage, prompting convenience stores to gradually adopt the floating house method over the past 10 years.
GS25 has designed a total of five floating stores, including Banpo 1 and 2 branches and Ttukseom Han River 1, 2, and 3 branches. CU (Han River Yeouido 1 and 2 branches), Emart24 (Yeouido 3 and 4 branches), and Ministop (Han River Nanji 1 and 2 branches) each have two floating house stores.
When a heavy rain advisory was issued for the upper reaches of the Han River on this day, convenience stores immediately withdrew their staff from the stores, and especially GS25 stores in the low-lying Banpo district switched to the floating house system.
A convenience store industry official said, "There have been no reported cases of convenience stores suffering damage despite the Han River riverside being flooded," adding, "Floating buildings also have the advantage of offering more space than general container-type stores, allowing for larger store operations."
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