26-to-1 Competition for Alleyway Commercial Districts: Who Made the Cut? Busan Selects Two Signature Stores

Morubi in Haeundae and Helmet in Suyeong
Revitalization Funding, Consulting, and Online/Offline Promotion

The city of Busan has selected two representative stores, designated as "Signature Stores," to lead the revitalization of local alleyway commercial districts.

On June 25, the city announced that it had chosen two businesses?"Morubi" in Haeundae-gu and "Helmet" in Suyeong-gu?as the recipients of the "2025 Signature Store Discovery and Support Project."

This project was introduced for the first time this year. Its goal is to nurture attractive stores that can represent the region, similar to Seongsimdang in Daejeon, and to support the revitalization of the entire alleyway commercial district where these stores are located.

In the public contest held in May, a total of 53 businesses applied, resulting in a competition ratio of 26.5 to 1. The city finalized the recipients through a document review and an on-site presentation evaluation.

The selected "Morubi" is a baked goods specialty store located in a small alley on Udong 1-ro, Haeundae-gu, and is one of the original stores that helped form the Haeridan-gil commercial area. After opening in 2017 in a non-commercial area near the former Haeundae Station, its signature product, the cube pound cake, gained popularity through word of mouth. As various other shops opened around it, the commercial district naturally came to be known as "Haeridan-gil."

The city expects that, with this selection, Morubi will invigorate the stagnant Haeridan-gil area by developing tourism products that utilize Busan's local specialties.

The other selected business, "Helmet," is a brunch cafe in Gwang-an-dong, Suyeong-gu, designed by its owner, who majored in set design. The cafe aims to be more than just a cafe, aspiring to become a multi-cultural space. Distinctive buildings have also sprung up in the surrounding area, forming a new alleyway commercial district.

The city plans to use Helmet as a base to organize alleyway festivals featuring representative Busan ingredients, with the aim of developing the entire district into a leading cultural space for the region.

The selected businesses will receive 40 million won for activities to promote commercial district revitalization and 30 million won for growth support. They will also be provided with consulting services and both online and offline promotional support.

Kim Bongcheol, Director of the Digital Economy Bureau of Busan City, stated, "As attractive stores based on local resources have been selected as Signature Stores, we hope they will bring new vitality to the local alleyway commercial districts. The city will actively support these stores in fulfilling their roles as anchor stores so that positive effects can spread throughout the entire district."

Busan City Hall.