[Report] "Losing All Lifetime Earnings"... Stationery Industry Still 'Down' Despite School Reopening Expansion

The Third Semester Since COVID Spread... Stationery Street Struggles with No Visitors
"Can We Really Survive This Year..." Only Inventory Clearance Due to Lack of Customers

The scene of the stationery street in Changsin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. The street was quiet due to the lack of customers. Photo by Choyoung Kim choyoung@asiae.co.kr

[Asia Economy reporters Han Seung-gon and Kim Cho-young] "I barely managed to hold on last year, but I really don't know if I can endure this year."

The third semester since the COVID-19 outbreak began early last year started on the 2nd. Although the number of students attending school increased due to the policy of expanding in-person classes, the stationery street in Changsin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, which was recently visited, was still quiet. Although the shops opened after preparing for business, only merchants organizing inventory in a corner of the store could be seen due to the lack of customers. Because of this, there are concerns that the stationery street itself might disappear.

Mr. Kim (56), who has operated a stationery store in Changsin-dong for 20 years, said in response to a question about whether customers increased after the semester started, "They increased a little," adding, "Anyway, it's a relief that the decision was made to send the kids to school." He said, "There were some students who visited after receiving the list of class supplies," and "There was no delivery to schools last year, but this year there is a little."

However, the situation had not improved significantly. Mr. Kim said, "If I earned about 100 before COVID-19, last year I earned about 10 out of 100, and this year about 20," adding, "Honestly, I don't have high expectations this year either."

He continued, "Last year, I heard a lot from people around me saying things like 'Is that even earning?' or 'Shouldn't you quit?'" He appealed, "Still, isn't running my own business and having my own store everyone's dream after retirement? Everyone is holding on. We endure with the thought that better days will come."

Occasionally, customers who bought stickers or writing instruments for less than 5,000 won visited the store. Mr. Kim said, "I'm just grateful that customers come," and lamented, "If I don't protect my store, who will?"

When asked if the situation had improved a little, other merchants replied briefly, "Take a look now. Can't you tell?" The merchants showed concern, saying, "We barely held on last year, and we really don't know if we can endure this year."

A shop in the shopping district. There were occasional payments, but most amounts were under 5,000 won. Photo by Kim Choyoung choyoung@asiae.co.kr

Mr. Yang (72), who has operated a stationery store in Changsin-dong for 40 years, expressed frustration, saying, "I want to close the store because of the inventory, but I can't."

Mr. Yang said, "These days, schools provide all the stationery, so almost no customers come to buy at the store," adding, "I've been running at a loss since last year. This is really the first time I've experienced this situation."

He explained, "If I used to sell about 10 million won a month, now I sell about 3 million won," and "Since there is nothing to sell, there is no tax to pay."

When asked if things would improve soon since vaccinations have started, he shook his head. The reason is that students, the main customers of the store, are not currently eligible for vaccination.

Mr. Yang said, "Since students are not getting vaccinated right now, honestly, I don't have much expectation," and "As someone who does business targeting children, I don't have much hope."

The appearance of an empty stationery store. No customers were seen during the coverage. Photo by Choyoung Kim choyoung@asiae.co.kr

The owner of a store boasting a size of over 70 pyeong and introducing itself as the largest wholesaler nationwide poured out his frustration, saying, "I've lost everything I've ever earned and only debts are increasing," and "I'm running a deficit of 300 to 400 million won a year."

He said, "In the past, the new semester was busy from February 1st. It used to be busy for a month, but now it ends in 2 to 3 days," explaining, "Usually, I should sell 7 to 8 million won a day during the new semester, but since last year, it has never exceeded 500,000 won."

He continued, "I'm barely holding on. I can't pay for goods, can't pay employees' salaries, and I don't take anything for myself," lamenting, "I'm borrowing everything I have and don't have, taking loans to survive, but can I realistically handle another year?," trailing off. He said, "Support funds of 1 million or 2 million won don't help at all," and lamented, "This place will soon close almost entirely like Myeongdong."

Customers who visited the store sporadically were mostly adults looking around stationery. Mr. A, in his 20s, who came to the stationery street for sightseeing during vacation, said, "This is the most famous stationery street, so I came," adding, "Honestly, there were so few people in the store that I wondered if I came to the wrong place. Still, I liked that I could buy various items at affordable prices."

Another shop in the shopping district. The shop owner, Lee Mo (53), also teared up during the interview. Photo by Kim Choyoung choyoung@asiae.co.kr

Mr. Lee (53), who said he has been doing business here for over 20 years, became teary-eyed when asked if things had improved a little this year compared to last year, saying, "Don't even talk about last year." Mr. Lee said, "Last year was really tough. I almost died, so I don't even want to think about it."

He said, "Every day was really draining. It was very, very hard, but I endured and held on," adding, "I really opened the store out of necessity."

Mr. Lee also raised issues about the selection process for disaster relief fund recipients. He said, "Since this is wholesale, sales come out anyway. But I was excluded from disaster relief funds because of sales," appealing, "Even if sales come out, there is no profit. Why don't they understand that?"

He added, "The sales effect from in-person classes seems bigger than the expectations from vaccinations," and said, "Here, sales definitely increase only if students attend school."

Meanwhile, on the 2nd, the government announced a plan to provide disaster relief funds for small business owners. According to the government's supplementary budget bill, the target for the Small Business Owner Support Fund Plus is 3.85 million people, an increase of 1.05 million from the 2.8 million people who received the third disaster relief fund, the Support Fund. The scale of the fourth support fund is 6.7 trillion won, 2.6 trillion won more than the Support Fund. This measure considers the increased damage to small business owners due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and various quarantine regulations.

A separate support plan worth 2.5 trillion won was also prepared to stabilize management and restore competitiveness for small business owners and small and medium enterprises. An additional 200 billion won in emergency management stabilization funds will be supplied to vulnerable small and medium enterprises that have difficulty securing funds from commercial banks.

To help small business owners recover sales, 4.5 trillion won worth of local love gift certificates and 500 billion won worth of Onnuri gift certificates will be issued in the second quarter. To strengthen competitiveness through small business owners' entry into online platforms, support worth 3 billion won will also be provided in the second quarter to 1,400 stores in 100 traditional markets.