Shinsegae "Looking for the Protagonists of the 4th Generation Youth Coffee Lab"

Shinsegae Central City Opens Public Recruitment for Gangnam Pami? Station Cafe Operators
Plans to Develop and Operate Programs to Enhance Competitiveness of Startups and Young Entrepreneurs
Additional Points for Applicants Proposing Eco-Friendly Operations Starting from 4th Selection

Youth Coffee Lab store inside Central City Pami? Station, Gangnam, Seoul. (From left) Park Juhyung, CEO of Shinsegae Central City; Go Hyunseon, 2nd term CEO of Youth Coffee Lab; Park Shinyoung, 3rd term CEO; Shin Eunsu, 1st term CEO.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Shinsegae Central City is holding the fourth open recruitment for 'Youth Coffee Lab' founders, a program that turns young people into cafe owners and helps them build competitiveness, on the first floor of Gangnam Pami? Station. From this recruitment, selection and support will be conducted considering competitiveness and social contribution after startup.

Started in April 2019, 'Youth Coffee Lab,' which has produced three young cafe owners including the current third term operator, is open to any Korean youth aged 20 to 39 who have not registered a business. Applications for the 4th term will be accepted via email from March 16 to April 11.

The one final selected to operate 'Youth Coffee Lab' from July will be able to run a business in a 66㎡ store fully equipped with interior and business equipment such as coffee machines. Based on the capital and experience gained from operating the cafe for one year, they will start their own business wherever they want.

In response to the impact of COVID-19, Shinsegae Central City revised the original 6-month business support program to 12 months and is preparing various programs to secure competitiveness after startup and continuously manage it to build self-sustainability. Considering social contribution, additional points will be given if eco-friendly elements are introduced in the operation plan from the 4th term application.

Park Shin-young, the third term owner who started business in July last year, is described by the company as a skilled barista who ranked third in the 2019 Korea Barista Competition and performed well despite the COVID-19 situation. Although Park experienced difficulties due to COVID-19, she is dreaming of opening her own store by leveraging the efforts and experiences to overcome them.

The first term Youth Coffee Lab owner opened and is operating 'Coffee Sniffer,' a roastery-type cafe near Seoul Station in October 2019, and the second term opened 'Declan Coffee,' a bakery combined cafe near Sungshin Women's University in July 2020. These two young people are running their own coffee specialty shops reflecting their personalities in menus and interiors based on their experience at Youth Coffee Lab.

Shin Eun-su, the first term owner, said upon completing Youth Coffee Lab operation, "The vague dream of opening a cafe gradually became tangible. I gained unexpected on-site experience dealing with numerous customers every day. Operating 'Youth Coffee Lab' seems to have greatly reduced the trial and error of starting a business."

Park Joo-hyung, CEO of Shinsegae Central City, said, "Due to the impact of COVID-19, starting a business has become even more difficult, so support for youth startups is more necessary than ever. We will continue to support youth startups and spare no effort to support sustainable management not only for startups but also after startup."