Seongdong-gu's 'Our Neighborhood Store Artterior' Adds Vitality to Shopping Districts

By June 14, a total of 39 participating businesses applied in three areas: Geumnam Market, Seongsu Station Alley Shopping District, and Ttukseom Station Shopping District... Providing artists with space to showcase talents and jobs, and revitalizing commercial areas through interior improvements for small business owners, achieving a win-win effect... Since 2021, improvements made in 8 areas including Songjeong-dong, Sageun-dong, Yongdap-dong with 215 locations; from this year, fully funded by the district government

Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeong Wono) is promoting the ‘2024 Our Neighborhood Store Artterior Project,’ which renovates small business stores in a new and unique way using artists' creativity.

The ‘Our Neighborhood Store Artterior (Art+Interior) Project’ is a program that improves the interior and exterior design of participating stores by utilizing artists' creativity.

It creates a win-win effect by providing artists with spaces and jobs to showcase their talents, and by enhancing small business owners' stores with personalized interior designs, thereby boosting store competitiveness and revitalizing commercial districts.

Seongdong-gu has been operating the ‘Our Neighborhood Store Artterior Project’ since 2021, and this year, it is recruiting small business owners to improve their store’s interior and exterior design from May 20 to June 14.

The project targets three areas: Geumnam Market, Seongsu Station Alley Shopping District, and Ttukseom Station Shopping District, selecting a total of 39 stores.

Meanwhile, Seongdong-gu was selected in a Seoul city contest and has carried out design improvement work for 215 stores across eight areas including Songjeong-dong, Sageun-dong, and Yongdap-dong over three years since 2021.

In particular, starting this year, with the end of the Seoul city Artterior project, Seongdong-gu is promoting the project using its own budget. This is to continue supporting small business owners facing management difficulties due to outdated store designs so they can receive ongoing benefits.

Kim OO, who runs a snack bar and participated in last year’s ‘Our Neighborhood Store Artterior Project,’ responded positively, saying, “The store image has been neatly transformed through the Artterior project,” and “The overall atmosphere of the alley commercial district has become fresher, attracting more interested customers and pleasing regulars, which makes me happy.”

Jeong Wono, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, stated, “Not only the small business owners participating in the Artterior project but also visitors to the markets and shopping districts and local residents are satisfied with the changed commercial district atmosphere, which gives me great fulfillment,” adding, “We will continue to implement various policies that can inject economic vitality into shopping districts.”