Opening of 'Our Neighborhood Convenience Store' 4th Branch in Yongsan-gu Antique Furniture Street

Opening of 'Our Neighborhood Convenience Store' Antique Branch (4th Store) on the 25th of Last Month
Approximately 50㎡ in Antique Furniture Street, Operated by Yongsan Regional Self-Sufficiency Center
Six Participants in Self-Sufficiency Work to Rotate and Develop Independence Skills

In our neighborhood, there is a special convenience store that appears ordinary on the outside but coexists with neighbors facing difficulties. It is the ‘Our Neighborhood Convenience Store,’ a project supported by Yongsan-gu and the Yongsan Community Self-Support Center to create stable jobs for low-income residents.

Yongsan-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Park Hee-young) launched the ‘Our Neighborhood Convenience Store’ Antic Branch (4th branch) on the 25th of last month as a market-entry type self-support work project. The newly opened Antic Branch is located in the Itaewon Antique Furniture Street (1, Noksapyeong-daero 26ga-gil, Yongsan-gu) and covers approximately 50㎡.

The convenience store is operated by the Yongsan Community Self-Support Center (Center Director Shin Min-jung). Six participants affiliated with the center work in two shifts of 8 hours each. Operating hours are from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

Based on its experience operating ‘Our Neighborhood Convenience Store’ since 2018, the center also provides systematic job training for new self-support project participants, covering everything from basic store management to customer service.

The six participants handle overall store management according to work processes such as ▲product ordering ▲receiving confirmation ▲product arrangement ▲inventory management ▲sales settlement ▲store cleaning, aiming to develop the capabilities to become self-reliant.

To open this branch, the center conducted market research on various local stores starting in January and selected a new store location in Itaewon Antique Furniture Street, signing a franchise contract with GS Retail.

GS Retail supports the store deposit, rent, and interior costs and plans to regularly provide job and service training for the participants to ensure smooth convenience store operations.

A portion of the sales revenue will be sent to GS Retail, while the remainder will be used for wages and incentives for the self-support work participants.

Additionally, the district operates four ‘Our Neighborhood Convenience Stores (Naeil Store)’ as self-support work teams, including Sowol Branch (1st branch), Gongdeok Branch (2nd branch), and Pildong Branch (3rd branch).

Since 2003, the district has entrusted the Yongsan Community Self-Support Center with operating self-support projects that provide work opportunities to basic livelihood security recipients and low-income groups.

The district plans to actively support the independence of low-income residents by helping participants gain employment or start businesses in related fields through diverse self-support work experiences.

Park Hee-young, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “We are especially pleased that the newly opened ‘Our Neighborhood Convenience Store’ Antic Branch is close to the district office,” adding, “We will continue to spare no support in discovering projects that can provide good jobs for low-income groups.”

Meanwhile, the Yongsan Community Self-Support Center operates a total of 15 self-support work teams with about 230 participants. Depending on the operation type, they are categorized as ▲public interest type (Our Neighborhood Cleaning, Care Service Team) ▲social service type (Somssi Processing, Our Neighborhood Rest Laundry, Mind Delivery, Youth Bakery, Daily Dream) ▲market entry type (The Masil Cafe, Barun Delivery, Our Neighborhood Convenience Store Sowol Branch, Gongdeok Branch, Pildong Branch, Antic Branch, Eco Clean, Youth Bakery & Cafe Masil).