Over 200 Franchise Stores Nationwide... Price Increase This Year Following Last Year
Head Office: "Unavoidable Measure Due to Continued Inflation and Labor Cost Rise"
Apgujeong Branch Price Increase on 15th This Month... Hapjeong and Sinsa Station Branches Raised Prices Last Month
Tous Les Jours and Subway Bread and Sandwich Prices Also Rising One After Another
A price increase notice is posted at 'The Foot Shop' Hapjeong Station branch, a massage franchise. Photo by Moon Hyewon, Asia Economy
[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] As consumer prices across the board, including food, electricity, gas, and transportation, continue to rise, the service industry, such as massage shops, has also joined the ranks of price increases.
According to the franchise industry on the 6th, ‘The Foot Shop,’ a massage company with about 200 franchise stores nationwide, recently raised its prices. The increase is about 10,000 KRW per hour on average, with a maximum rise of 20,000 KRW depending on the course.
For the most commonly received course, the ‘Foot Massage (60 minutes)’ service, the price increased by 9,000 KRW from 39,000 KRW to 48,000 KRW based on the membership price. The ‘Aroma Back’ course (1 hour), which uses aroma oil to relax muscles on the back, waist, and other rear parts of the body, rose by 10,000 KRW from 55,000 KRW to 65,000 KRW.
The ‘Foot 30 minutes + Body 60 minutes’ course increased by 13,000 KRW from 60,000 KRW to 73,000 KRW, and the ‘Emperor Massage,’ which uses aroma to treat the entire body from head to toe for 120 minutes, rose by 20,000 KRW from 100,000 KRW to 120,000 KRW.
The headquarters stated, "This is an unavoidable measure due to the burden of continuous price increases and rising labor costs."
The price increase was proposed by the headquarters starting from the 25th of last month, but the timing and price increase for each service vary slightly by franchise location at the discretion of each franchise owner. For example, the Apgujeong branch in Seoul plans to raise prices from the 15th of this month, allowing time to notify existing members in advance to ease the burden of sudden price hikes. The Hapjeong Station branch in Seoul raised prices from the 27th of last month, while the Sinsa Station and National Assembly Station branches started price increases on the 25th of last month.
An anonymous therapist explained, "Therapists receive incentives per service hour, and without these price increases, their earnings would be low, causing many to leave for restaurants that pay a steady monthly salary of 3 million KRW. Even though we teach massage skills, employees keep leaving, making it impossible to serve customers. The headquarters is trying to prevent staff turnover through price increases."
In addition to labor costs, the prices of raw materials have surged sharply due to multiple adverse factors such as rising prices of agricultural and livestock products in the first half of this year, and increases in grain, raw materials, and logistics costs caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. This has led to continuous price hikes in the food and beverage and dining industries.
CJ Foodville’s Tous Les Jours recently raised prices on about 80 products by an average of 9.5%. For example, the price of red bean bread and soboro bread increased by 100 KRW each, from 1,600 KRW to 1,700 KRW. A CJ Foodville official said, "After sufficient consultation with franchise owners, we decided to raise prices starting this week. This is an unavoidable measure due to the sharp rise in domestic and international raw material prices, processing costs, and logistics expenses."
This price increase comes one and a half years after Tous Les Jours raised prices on about 90 representative products in January last year.
Subway announced that it will raise prices of its main product line, 15cm sandwiches, by an average of 5.8% starting from the 12th of this month.
The price increase applies to a total of 74 items, including 18 types of 15cm sandwiches, 18 types of 30cm sandwiches, and side menus. The average increase is 333 KRW (ranging from 300 to 500 KRW) for 15cm sandwiches and 883 KRW (ranging from 500 to 1,600 KRW) for 30cm sandwiches.
Key menu items include the Egg Mayo sandwich, which will rise from 4,600 KRW to 4,900 KRW (300 KRW increase), the Italian BMT sandwich from 5,700 KRW to 6,100 KRW (400 KRW increase), and the Turkey Bacon Avocado sandwich from 6,900 KRW to 7,400 KRW (500 KRW increase). The additional charge of 1,700 KRW for switching a sandwich to a salad will remain unchanged.
A Subway representative said, "The cost of raw materials and logistics has sharply increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rising labor costs, and grain supply instability caused by the Ukraine war. Due to the continued rise in prices, the profitability of small business franchise owners has rapidly deteriorated, so we had no choice but to adjust prices and ask for understanding."
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