Up to 20 Million Won in Support for Eight Local Hotspots
Pop-Up Opportunity at Hyundai Department Store Pangyo Branch Also Available
On July 2, Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor: Shin Sangjin) announced that it will hold the 'Hipstore Audition,' the nation's first citizen-participatory store survival program, for the second time this year. This audition is a commercial district revitalization project that aims to discover hidden gem shops in local neighborhoods and grow them together with citizens.
The Seongnam City Commercial District Revitalization Foundation, which is organizing the event, will be accepting applications from participating stores until July 25.
The goal of the 'Hipstore Audition' is for citizens to recommend and vote for promising stores, thereby enhancing the unique character and competitiveness of local commercial districts. The term 'Hipstore' (Hyper Local Store) refers to a unique neighborhood shop that is so close you could visit in slippers.
Any small business owner operating a storefront in Seongnam City for more than one year is eligible to participate. Application forms can be downloaded from the foundation's website, filled out, and submitted in person at the foundation's office.
This year, the scale of support has been expanded: the number of selected stores has increased from five to eight, and the support fund per store has doubled from 10 million won to 20 million won.
Through an online citizen vote and expert evaluations, a final list of eight stores will be selected by August 24. The selected stores will receive a 'Hipstore Certification Mark.' Each store will receive customized support worth a total of 20 million won, including signage, packaging, menus, merchandise, and promotional content production.
Separately, five stores that participated last year and this year will also be given the opportunity to take part in a pop-up event at Hyundai Department Store Pangyo Branch in the second half of this year.
The foundation is also running an online event to encourage participation from small business owners and citizens. Store owners can promote their stores by uploading promotional content to Instagram with the hashtags '#Hipstore' and '#StoreName.' Citizens can nominate stores they wish to recommend using the same hashtags, and participants will be entered into a drawing for prizes such as mobile gift certificates.
In the first audition held last year, five stores were selected: Deoksunine (Taepyeong-dong, Sujeong-gu), Seongnam Small Theater (Taepyeong-dong, Sujeong-gu), Fillout Coffee (Yatap-dong, Bundang-gu), Hayscone (Yatap-dong, Bundang-gu), and Daollaegimbap (Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang-gu). These stores strengthened their competitiveness through support for brand identity and design.
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