The Birth of Geumcheon-gu's First Alley-type Shopping District

Yuseong Hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon District Office (left in the photo), is taking a commemorative photo with Jeong Hoon, Hanmaeum Alley Market, and Lee Cheol-hyun, Chairman of the Merchants Association.

Geumcheon-gu Designates Jeonghun Complex Alley Commercial Area around Doksan-ro 64-gil and 65-gil as an ‘Alley-type Shopping District’

Establishing a Foundation for Revitalizing Alley Commercial Areas

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yu Seong-hoon) has designated the ‘Jeonghun Hanmaeum Alley Market’ as its first Alley-type Shopping District.

The ‘Jeonghun Hanmaeum Alley Market’ is an alley commercial area around Doksan-ro 64-gil and 65-gil, consisting of 140 stores including dining, service, and retail businesses.

The Alley-type Shopping District system was created to support alley commercial areas that do not fall under traditional markets or shopping districts but meet certain conditions. To be designated as an Alley-type Shopping District, there must be at least 30 stores operated by small business owners concentrated within an area of 2,000㎡ or less, and a merchant organization must be formed.

Last September, Geumcheon-gu enacted an ordinance on the designation and revitalization support of Alley-type Shopping Districts and conducted a research project to identify eligible alley commercial areas within the region.

Once registered as a franchise, the newly designated ‘Jeonghun Hanmaeum Alley Market’ will be able to accept Onnuri gift certificates.

Geumcheon-gu plans to promote various support projects such as facility modernization and event support to revitalize alley commercial areas.

Yu Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, “It is meaningful that alley commercial areas, which were excluded from support policies because they were not recognized as traditional markets, can now be supported through the ‘Alley-type Shopping District system.’ We will continue to strive to discover various alley-type shopping districts in the future.”

Gwanak-gu’s Inheon Market, Gwanak Sinsa Market, and Bongcheon Jeil General Market Selected in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ ‘Specialized Market Development Project’ Competition

Transforming into Unique and Vibrant Markets Linked with Gwanak-gu’s Local Culture and Tourism Resources

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) achieved a great success with Inheon Market (photo), Gwanak Sinsa Market, and Bongcheon Jeil General Market being selected in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ ‘Specialized Market Development Project’ competition.

It is rare for three markets from one autonomous district to be selected simultaneously. Inheon Market and Gwanak Sinsa Market were selected as ‘Cultural Tourism-type Markets’ and will receive up to 420 million KRW annually for two years each, while Bongcheon Jeil General Market, selected as a ‘First Step Foundation Market,’ will receive 255 million KRW for one year.

The ‘Cultural Tourism-type Market Development Project’ supports the installation of facilities such as cultural experience centers and outdoor performance venues, development of cultural and tourism content, and merchant education to foster traditional markets as regional tourist attractions.

The ‘First Step Foundation Market’ project aims to strengthen the leap to specialized markets through three major service innovations?convenient payment, customer trust enhancement, hygiene and cleanliness?and two organizational capabilities?merchant organization strengthening and market safety management including fire prevention.

Inheon Market was recognized for its achievements in the Ministry’s ‘2022 Specialized Market First Step Foundation Project’ last year, and although Gwanak Sinsa Market faced setbacks with two consecutive years of rejection, it persevered and was finally selected for the ‘Cultural Tourism-type Market Development Project,’ a valuable outcome.

Inheon Market plans to transform into a ‘traditional market living together with culture and sharing’ by ▲establishing infrastructure such as Design Sky lighting and digital billboards ▲strengthening merchant self-sustainability through merchant campus operation and specialized product development ▲developing cultural content like guided tours of Nakseongdae-gil ▲and online promotion.

Gwanak Sinsa Market aims to become a ‘Seoul-style waterfront emotional city, culture and vitality leading hub market’ linked with Byeolbitnaerincheon Stream by ▲creating emotional lighting and Byeolbit Sinsari Alley Market ▲digitalizing the market with augmented reality market maps and metaverse services ▲developing a waterfront emotional cultural platform connected to Byeolbitnaerincheon ▲introducing eco-friendly packaging ▲and establishing an eco-friendly leading market to create a safe market environment.

Bongcheon Jeil General Market, selected for the ‘First Step Foundation Project,’ plans to leverage its experience as the nation’s first to integrate delivery services with online platforms to strengthen its online sector and become a market that attracts young people, responding to the local characteristics of many single-person households and young residents, making for a busy year ahead.

Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, said, “Through this competition, we will nurture specialized markets linked with local characteristics to create markets visited by not only residents but many citizens, contributing to regional economic revitalization. We ask for much interest in the transformations of Inheon Market and Gwanak Sinsa Market, which will take on distinctive appearances, and Bongcheon Jeil General Market, which will have a solid foundation.”

Yongsan-gu (Mayor Park Hee-young) will begin a special 10% discount sale of the 10 billion KRW-scale Itaewon Commercial Area Recovery Gift Certificates starting at 10 a.m. on the 10th.

This is to revive the Itaewon commercial area, which has been frozen due to the October 29 tragedy.

The Itaewon Commercial Area Recovery Gift Certificates are mobile gift certificates issued to promote consumption by residents within the Itaewon commercial area and increase sales for small business owners. They can be used like cash at Yongsan Sarang Gift Certificate affiliated stores.

The gift certificates come in three denominations: 10,000 KRW, 50,000 KRW, and 100,000 KRW. The maximum purchase limit per person is 700,000 KRW per month, with a holding limit of 2 million KRW. They must be used within six months of purchase.

A special 10% discount is applied at issuance and sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The 10,000 KRW certificate can be purchased for 9,000 KRW, the 50,000 KRW certificate for 45,000 KRW, and the 100,000 KRW certificate for 90,000 KRW.

Purchases can be made via smartphone using any of five applications (Seoul Pay, Shinhan SOL, T-money Pay, Moneytree, Shinhan Play).

Payment is made by scanning the affiliated store’s QR code and paying with the mobile gift certificate. It can be freely used at about 2,600 Yongsan Sarang Gift Certificate affiliated stores located in Itaewon 1 and 2-dong, Hannam-dong, Bogwang-dong, Seobinggo-dong, and Yongsan 2-ga-dong, including academies, restaurants, hospitals, pharmacies, convenience stores, and more.

A district official said, “The Itaewon commercial area, which was recovering with the lifting of social distancing, is facing great difficulties due to the October 29 tragedy. We will do our best to sell out the gift certificates so that this special issuance can become the seed for Itaewon commercial area recovery.”