"October 14th, No Bread Purchase in Daejeon... What’s Happening at Seongsimdang Open Year-Round?"

Company Event 'Hangajok Camp' All Employees Participate

Seongsimdang, a bakery renowned as the best specialty of Daejeon and the reason why Daejeon Metropolitan City is called the 'Seongsim Metropolitan City,' announced a full closure of all its stores. Seongsimdang closes all its stores for just one day a year to hold a 'One Family Camp' involving all employees.

[Photo by Seongsimdang Instagram capture]

On the 6th, Seongsimdang posted on its official social media channels a notice titled "2024 Seongsimdang Emergency Disaster Message," stating, "October 14th, just one day a year! Due to the One Family Camp, all Seongsimdang stores will be closed for one day." Seongsimdang asked for customers' understanding and added, "We will meet you again on Tuesday, October 15th, with a warmer and brighter appearance."

Seongsimdang operates a total of four stores in Daejeon: the Eunnam-dong main store, Lotte Department Store Daejeon branch, DCC store (Daejeon Convention Center branch), and Daejeon Station store. Although requests to open branches in famous department stores nationwide continue without end, Seongsimdang has not opened a single store outside of Daejeon. This is in accordance with CEO Lim Young-jin's management philosophy of "not opening stores outside of Daejeon."

Seongsimdang has operated all its stores every day of the year, including traditional Korean holidays such as Seollal and Chuseok, without closing. However, on the upcoming 14th, all stores will be closed, and no bread will be available for purchase at Seongsimdang. This is because the company holds an internal event called the 'One Family Camp,' which all employees participate in once a year. On this day, about 900 full-time employees and a total of 1,200 employees including part-timers from the four stores gather to enjoy a time of unity with sports competitions and talent shows. Several parks and plazas in Daejeon are reportedly being considered as candidate locations for the camp.

Seongsimdang started in 1956 as a steamed bun shop in front of Daejeon Station and has grown into a famous bakery representing Daejeon. Known for its taste as well as reasonable prices, Seongsimdang has earned a reputation as a 'cost-effective bakery.' Its strong regional identity has created the formula 'Daejeon = Seongsimdang,' making it the top destination for nationwide bread pilgrimages and maintaining its popularity.

Every year when the news of Seongsimdang's closure is announced, online reactions flood in with comments such as "Don't go to Daejeon on that day," "This should be announced as a disaster alert," "Daejeon temporarily shut down," and "Shouldn't this be displayed when booking KTX tickets?" making it a hot topic.