Mayor Baek Kyunghyun Leads Digital Transformation of Alleyway Commercial Districts: "Strengthening Small Business Self-Sufficiency"

Guri City Commercial District Revitalization Foundation Goes All-In on Major Local Commercial Transformation
Guri City Unveils District-Specific Characters and Integrated Trademark Image
Consulting and Package Support Boost Digital Competitiveness for Small Businesses
Continued Expansion of Citizen-Friendly Marketing and Online Sales Channels

The commercial districts of Guri City in Gyeonggi Province are reaching out to citizens in a new way, equipped with adorable characters and digital tools.

On January 8, the Guri City Commercial District Revitalization Foundation (Chairman Baek Kyunghyun) announced the achievements of its brand asset development and digital transformation initiatives, aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of Guri City's traditional markets and alleyway shopping streets for the new year of 2026.

Guri City Commercial District Character 'Waguri and Friends' · Integrated Trademark Image (BI) Unveiled. Provided by Guri City

'Waguri and Friends': Unique Characters for Each Commercial District

The most notable change is the establishment of an integrated brand system that unifies all commercial districts in Guri City. Centered around the city’s representative character 'Waguri,' the foundation has completed the development of the 'Waguri and Friends' characters, each reflecting the unique traits of the five main commercial areas: Namyang Market, Sintopyeong Food Alley, Galmae Ribbon Street, Jangja Lake Park, and Guri Station District.

These characters were designed to capture the distinctive stories of each district while also connecting them under the unified brand of Guri City. Since January 5, the foundation has been sequentially releasing character introduction webtoons through its official Instagram account and plans to actively utilize these characters in joint marketing efforts, including festivals, promotional materials, and merchandise production.

The integrated trademark image (BI) developed alongside the characters will be applied to both online and offline signage and event designs, enhancing visual consistency throughout the districts.

The integrated trademark image includes a logo, color scheme, and usage guidelines. It will be gradually applied to online and offline promotional materials, signage, and event designs to strengthen the identity and visual consistency of the alleyway shopping streets.

Through this project, the Guri City Commercial District Revitalization Foundation is being recognized for simultaneously establishing both the unique character of each district and a unified image, creating a familiar and easily recognizable commercial district identity for citizens and visitors, and laying the foundation for sustainable revitalization.

Chairman Baek Kyunghyun stated, "The district-specific characters and integrated trademark image are not one-off results but sustainable brand assets that represent Guri City's commercial districts. Moving forward, we will further expand joint marketing and citizen-participatory promotions based on these assets."

Baek Kyung-hyun, Chairman of the Guri City Commercial District Revitalization Foundation, and eight graduates of the "Create Your Store Online Channel 2nd Class" are taking a commemorative photo. Provided by Guri City

Digital Competitiveness for Small Businesses: Focused 'Customized Consulting'

Beyond simple promotion, digital support initiatives that foster genuine self-sufficiency are also producing tangible results.

The 'Create Your Store Online Channel' project, led by the foundation, received a high satisfaction score of 4.9 out of 5 from participating stores.

This project, conducted in two phases from 2024 to December 2025, supports the digital transformation of small businesses by diagnosing each store’s online operation level and environment, then providing tailored one-on-one consulting based on the specific needs of each business.

In 2025 alone, a total of 27 stores received intensive consulting, which is credited with significantly enhancing the digital operational capabilities of small businesses, resulting in increased customer traffic and sales.

In particular, rather than relying solely on educational programs, the project featured on-site diagnostics by experts who analyzed issues across the entire scope of online channel operations and suggested improvement strategies tailored to each store, leading to substantial improvements in operational capabilities.

As a result, participating stores saw an overall improvement in their ability to operate online channels, with concrete outcomes such as increased customer inflow and higher sales.

One small business owner who participated in the project expressed satisfaction, saying, "Through the on-site diagnosis, we were able to clearly define the direction for our online operations, and the customized consulting directly led to increased sales."

Building on these achievements, the Guri City Commercial District Revitalization Foundation plans to continue providing step-by-step customized consulting and effective support programs in 2026 to further strengthen the online channel capabilities of small businesses. The foundation is committed to actively supporting the self-sufficiency of local small businesses and the establishment of stable online sales channels.

Before and after results of customized packaging for companies participating in the Guri City Commercial Area Revitalization Foundation packaging support project. Provided by Guri City

'Smart Package Support' to Enhance Product Value

The foundation has also spared no effort in supporting 'product enhancement,' a key factor for entering the online market.

Through the 'Smart Online Market Expansion - Package Support Project,' the foundation assisted 11 stores in producing packaging materials and improving designs suitable for online distribution.

This project, which ran from August to December 2025, was designed to strengthen product lineup and brand competitiveness for the online distribution environment.

Selected participating stores received practical support for online distribution, including the production of packaging boxes and materials tailored to product characteristics, as well as improvements to package design for bundled online sales.

One merchant who participated in the support program welcomed the results, stating, "After improving the design to match the product’s characteristics, both brand recognition and online sales increased noticeably." Based on such success stories, the foundation plans to further expand step-by-step customized support for small businesses to build online sales channels in 2026.

Baek Kyunghyun, Chairman of the Guri City Commercial District Revitalization Foundation, commented, "The characters and BI developed through this project are sustainable brand assets for Guri City's commercial districts. We will continue to provide effective support to help small businesses proactively respond to the changing consumer environment."

Meanwhile, information on the foundation’s various support programs is available at any time through the Guri City Commercial District Revitalization Foundation website and KakaoTalk channel.