"Lost Night Business"... Owner's Lament Over Couple Who Turned Off Lights and Watched Movie at Unmanned Cafe

After Midnight, Couple Turns Off Store Lights Without Permission
Owner Files Police Report Against the Couple

At a 24-hour unmanned cafe, a man and woman were caught enjoying a date by turning off the lights and watching a movie on a laptop during the early morning hours. On the 10th, a post titled "Unmanned Cafe MZ Date" spread across various online communities. The post included a notice posted at the unmanned cafe.

The notice from the unmanned store manager stated, "We operate as a 24-hour unmanned store. This is not a space where you can freely turn off the lights and watch movies." Along with this, the security camera (CCTV) photos released by the owner showed the couple turning off the store lights and watching a movie on a laptop. The unmanned store manager wrote, "We plan to claim damages for business losses, and if there is no contact by March 4, we will file a police report."

A man and woman enjoying a date by turning off the lights and watching a movie on a laptop during the early morning hours were captured at a cafe operating unmanned for 4 hours. On the 10th, a post titled "Unmanned Cafe MZ Date" spread across various online communities. Online communities

This incident occurred on the 23rd of last month at an unmanned cake store in Songpa-gu, Seoul. The store manager told News1, "They appeared to be a man and woman in their early 20s," and added, "From 12:40 a.m. to 6:05 a.m. on the 23rd, they kept the lights off, so we couldn't operate." Around 1 a.m. that day, another customer who visited the store sent a text message to the store's number asking, "The lights are off, can I still buy cake?" The manager only found out about the incident the next morning after seeing the message. The manager said, "When I checked the CCTV, I saw the two sitting with the lights off, lying down briefly, then getting up," and added, "When they left in the morning, they took a taxi with the store lights still off." Ultimately, there was no contact from the couple. Accordingly, the store reportedly filed a police report.

Netizens' reactions to the post were mixed. Some agreed that the couple disrupted business but felt that immediately involving the police was not ideal. Comments included, "Unmanned stores just don't have staff on site, but the owner should be monitoring the CCTV continuously," "Even manned stores check CCTV, so the owner is at fault for not monitoring during the hours they watched the movie," "They don't pay attention to security and just keep calling the police, expecting them to handle everything," and "They reduced labor costs but are vulnerable to security and theft without staff. Yet they keep relying on the police too much." One netizen criticized, "Installing an access control system would solve this, but they avoid it because of cost and potential loss of customers, and instead try to use the police like a private security company." On the other hand, some netizens said, "This is a clear business disruption, so I don't understand why it's considered a waste of public resources," and "It's illogical to say not to use public authority when they haven't even set up minimum security measures."

Meanwhile, unmanned stores are rapidly emerging thanks to the significant advantage of reducing labor costs. Starting with unmanned stores such as ice cream and stationery shops, they have expanded to cafes, dessert shops, and side dish stores, and recently diversified into pet supply stores and sports facilities. Asia Economy DB

Meanwhile, unmanned stores are rapidly increasing due to the significant labor cost savings they offer. Starting with ice cream and stationery shops, unmanned stores have expanded to cafes, dessert shops, and side dish stores, and recently diversified into pet supply stores and fitness facilities. According to data from the Fire Agency, as of March last year, there were a total of 6,323 unmanned stores operating in South Korea. The distribution industry estimates that the actual number of unmanned stores nationwide is much higher, around 100,000, far exceeding the Fire Agency's statistics.

However, unmanned stores lack on-site managers, making them blind spots for crimes such as theft, property damage, and illegal dumping. Leaving an unmanned store without paying constitutes theft; participating in crimes with two or more people or carrying weapons constitutes special theft; damaging property inside the store is property damage; and occupying the store to block others' access constitutes obstruction of business. According to the National Police Agency, as unmanned stores have increased, theft cases at unmanned stores have also risen continuously: 3,514 cases from March to December 2021, 6,018 cases in 2022, and 10,847 cases in 2023. Cases of credit card fraud, such as impulsively using credit cards left by others, are also increasing.