Is It a Bread Vending Machine? ... 'Yellow Bags' Filling the Station Lockers

Photos Presumed to Be Kept by Tourists Become a Hot Topic

A photo capturing the popularity of Daejeon's famous bakery 'Sungsimdang' has been shared.

A locker at Daejeon Station. It is filled with bags from Seongsimdang, a famous bakery in Daejeon. [Image source=Online community capture]

On the 22nd, several online communities posted articles titled 'The role of coin lockers at Daejeon Station' and 'Recent status of coin lockers at Daejeon Station.' The posts shared photos of storage lockers inside Daejeon Station, described as 'Sungsimdang bread warehouse' and 'bread storage compartments.'

The photo showed several compartments with identical shopping bags visible through small glass windows. These were none other than Sungsimdang bags bearing the phrases "My city, my Sungsimdang" and "Sungsimdang is the culture of Daejeon." Since Sungsimdang is ranked as the number one destination for "bread pilgrimage" (visiting famous bakeries nationwide), it appears that tourists visiting here purchased bread from Sungsimdang and stored it in the lockers.

Netizens who saw this reacted with comments such as "It would be nice to have a dedicated refrigerated locker for Sungsimdang," "I thought it was a bread vending machine," "People's lives are all the same," and "Everyone taking the train at Daejeon Station is carrying those shopping bags."

A locker at Daejeon Station. It is filled with bags from Seongsimdang, a famous bakery in Daejeon. [Image source=Online community capture]

Sungsimdang started as a steamed bun shop in front of Daejeon Station in 1956 and has operated only in Daejeon for 68 years. With the management philosophy of "not opening branches outside Daejeon," the strong regional identity has become a strength, creating the formula "Daejeon = Sungsimdang." As a result, Sungsimdang continues its popularity as a "Daejeon landmark" and the top destination for nationwide bread pilgrimages. Sungsimdang donates all leftover bread from daily sales and actively engages in social contribution activities, including sending bread worth about 30 million KRW monthly to social welfare facilities.

Meanwhile, according to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 18th, Sungsimdang (Rosso) recorded sales of 124.31543 billion KRW, a 52.1% increase from the previous year (81.7 billion KRW). This is the first time a single bakery brand, not a large franchise, has exceeded 100 billion KRW in sales. Operating profit during the same period was 31.49638 billion KRW, more than double the previous year's 15.4 billion KRW. This significantly surpasses the operating profits of Paris Croissant, which runs Paris Baguette (19.8817 billion KRW), and CJ Foodville, which operates Tous Les Jours (21.42212 billion KRW).

Additionally, last month, the bakery made headlines again when Hanwha baseball player Ryu Hyun-jin gifted Sungsimdang bread to LA Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who visited Korea for the "MLB World Tour Seoul Series." After tasting Sungsimdang's fried soboro bread, Manager Roberts expressed amazement and gave a thumbs-up to the press.