What is your image of the traditional market? Is it inconvenient to use? Is it hard to find what we want? Is it unhygienic? Our stereotypes about the traditional market is that it has many difficulties to use. It is also troublesome for people to find where the store is. In the meantime, supermarkets solved these problems. For example, supermarkets have systematically displayed the products so that customers can find what they want easily. Furthermore, supermarkets frequently provide sales so that customers can buy a product at a reduced price or even with a free gift. These advantages of supermarkets were attractive features to people who have complained about traditional markets. Within a few years, supermarkets will occupy the markets that the traditional markets share. On the contrary, the traditional markets has gotten worse financially. To recover the golden days of the traditional markets, their executives make the strategies to attract customers again. Tong-In market in Seoul is the best example to recover the golden days of the traditional market. Tong-In market has four attractive features. CP Cub reporters went to the market and felt enjoyment!

 1. “Do Si Rack” Cafe
   The origin of “Do Si Rack” Cafe: Tong-In market is famous for its stores’ delicious food. Because all stores in Tong-In market sell various kinds of food, it was not possible to buy just a small amount of food. This weakness makes people rarely use Tong- In markets’ stores. The executives of Tong-In market tried to find the solution to attract people again. Finally, they came up with a cafe named “Do Si Rack,” which means a kind of a lunch box containing rice with side dishes. If Tong-In market allows people to eat on food of each store in small amount, people can have much more various kinds of food at the same place.
   

 
   How to use “Do Si Rack” Cafe: It is easy even for someone who visits Tong-In market first to use “Do Si Rack” Cafe. At first, you have to visit “Customer Satisfaction Center” in the Tong-In market. On the second floor of the market, you can buy yeopjeon, which was a currency of Josun dynasty. By using yeopjeon, people can feel like shopping at the markets in the times of the Joseon dynasty. 500 won has the same value of one yeopjeon. For a normal person, 10 yeopjeons which has the value of 5,000 won are enough to have a meal. After exchanging into yeopjeons, you are given an empty lunch box. From that time, what you should do is just walk around the street and pick up the food you would like to
 
eat. As the lunch box is full of food, come back on the second floor in the “Customer Satisfaction Center.” By using the remaining yeopjeons, you can buy rice and Korean soup. The kind of Korean soup varies every day. Rice and Korean soup can be obtained with two yeopjeons, respectively.

   The sort of food: There are three kinds of food that can be bought by using yeopjeons. One is grocery stores, and the other is snack bars. Yet another is ricecake shops. Each section consists of about seven stores or more. This opens the range of food that people can buy. This strength makes “Do Si Rack” Cafe be a more wonderful place to eat. But there is one thing you have to know. You can buy food at certain stores that are marked as “affiliated store.”

 
 2. Make furniture on your own
   This is a DIY workroom furniture. At first glance, it looks like ordinary furniture shop, but there are some differences compared to other furniture stores because it is DIY, which is an abbreviation meaning “do it yourself.” This enables the customers not to have a one-sided approach, but instead to have a mutual approach. Visitors to this furniture shop can participate in the process of making furniture. Although they do not make their own furniture, they can design the shape of furniture that they would like to make. Moreover, visitors can repair used furniture into new shapes. The other advantage of the DIY workroom is that no other equipment is needed because the workroom has been equipped with as the devices needed for making furniture, so the customer can just visit the shop freely.


 3. Delivery service
   While buying things in the market, the loads get heavier. The main customers are residents living near the market. Most of them get to the Tong-In market on foot. So, if they have many things to buy, they rarely use Tong-In market due to heavy loads. The executives of Tong-In market came up with solution to relieve the customers’ heavy loads. It is a shipping service. Through this service, in the case that customers have a few of load, they can use the delivery service. Once they request this service, they can receive their items at home within the day. Of course, the delivery is free, but the delivery area is restricted to Jongno Hyoja Cheong un-dong.


 4. Internet order
   These days, many people are too busy to visit markets. Accordingly, lots of internet shopping malls are getting common increasingly. To adapt to this change, Tong-In market employs an internet order system. It targets the busy people who want to visit Tong-In market but don’t have enough time. The available delivery area is in Jongno-gu. The fee of delivery, if the price is over 20,000 won, is free and, if not, an extra fee of 1500 won is charged. The address for the internet shopping mall is www. tonginmarket.co.kr.

 


How to get to Tong-In market in Seoul

Subway   Take number 3 line at “Express Bus Terminal” station.
  Get off at “Gyeong Bok Gung” station, and use the number 3 exit.
  From there, walk for 10 minutes.
Bus   1020, 1711, 7016, 7018, 7022, 7012
  A right at “Tong-In market Jongno health center” station.


Operating hour of Tong-In market’s facilities

“Do Si Rack” Cafe   Tuesday ~ Sunday, 11 am ~ 4 pm
Furniture DIY workroom   Monday ~ Friday, 10 am ~ 7 pm


Kim Min-su | By CP Cub Reporter

저작권자 © 충대신문 무단전재 및 재배포 금지