Opening of Yongsan-gu Our Neighborhood Convenience Store Branch 4... 6 Self-Support Workers Employed

Opening of Our Neighborhood Convenience Store Branch 4 (Sowol Branch)... Last Month, GS25 Retail Signed Convenience Store Acquisition Contract to Support Job Creation for Low-Income Residents

Self-support worker Lee Cheol-gyu

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] "I am glad to be able to work again during these difficult times. I will do my best."

This is the story of self-support worker Lee Cheol-gyu (48), who started working at Our Neighborhood Convenience Store Branch 4 in Yongsan-gu on the 1st.

The Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) Regional Self-Support Center opened Our Neighborhood Convenience Store Branch 4 (Sowol Branch) on this day.

This is to support the creation of stable jobs for low-income residents.

The convenience store is located at 18, Sinheung-ro 20-gil, Yongsan-gu (1st floor) and has an area of 47.76㎡.

Six workers belonging to the district’s Regional Self-Support Center work in three shifts of 8 hours each (two people per team).

Operating hours are from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily (same for branches 1 to 4).

To open the 4th branch, the center conducted market research starting in September and signed a convenience store acquisition contract with GS25 Retail last month.

GS Retail supports the store deposit, rent, and interior costs, and provides training on product sales, assortment, inventory management, and ordering for participants in the self-support project. To ensure successful store operation, quarterly training on job skills, attitude, and service will continue.

The sales target is 4.5 million KRW per month. The center sends part of this to GS Retail and uses the rest for creating the Central Asset Growth Fund, center revitalization support funds, and wages (incentives) for self-support workers.

Since 2018, the district has been operating the Our Neighborhood Convenience Store (Tomorrow Store) project with GS Retail.

The first branch, opened in January 2018 (Jeonja Town Branch), is located at 42, Wonhyo-ro 58-gil. Ten self-support workers work in three shifts.

The second branch (Hyochang Branch) opened in December 2018. It is located at 25, Hyochangwon-ro 70-gil (1st floor). Nine self-support workers work in three shifts.

The third branch (Daeheung Branch) opened last September, with six self-support workers working in three shifts. It is located at 26, Baekbeom-ro 20-gil (1st floor).

Shin Min-jung, director of the Yongsan Regional Self-Support Center, said, "Based on our accumulated business know-how, we will operate the 4th branch stably as well," adding, "We will continue to do our best to create jobs for vulnerable groups."

Yongsan-gu, Our Neighborhood Convenience Store Branch 4 (Sowol Branch)

The district’s Regional Self-Support Center operates a total of 14 business units, including Our Neighborhood Convenience Store. Depending on the scale, they are classified into part-time (Our Neighborhood Cleaning, Coffee Ribbon), social service type (Barun Delivery, Happy Processing, Somssi Processing, Life Agriculture Health, Whirlwind Car Wash, The Masil Cafe, Our Neighborhood Rest Laundry), and market entry type (Smile Clean, Our Neighborhood Convenience Store Jeonja Town Branch, Hyochang Branch, Daeheung Branch). The number of participants is 212.

Seong Jang-hyun, mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, "Following the opening of Our Neighborhood Rest Laundry in Galwol-dong last October, we opened Our Neighborhood Convenience Store Branch 4 this month," adding, "We will continue to expand the scale of the project next year as well."