'Dear children, thank you for everything': A stationery shop's farewell

by Chae Sang-woo

Published : June 20, 2026 - 15:22:43

The farewell letter posted at the Eunma shopping center stationery shop. [Newsis]

"Dear children, thank you so much for everything."

A farewell letter hangs in an old stationery shop at Eunma shopping center. It is filled with the names of children who once visited — many of whom may now be adults.

"Dear children, and all our many customers, thank you so much for everything. Though we are closing our doors, we will be cheering you on from afar as you walk your bright paths ahead. Please stay healthy and take care of yourselves. We love you."

"Minchan, Seowon, Junseo, Seongwon, Jeonghan, Jeonghwan, Yejun, Minseo, Taejun, Taehyeon, Changho, Bohui, Yunjin, Huiseon, Yunseo, Gyeonghwan, Eunsol, Hyeontaek, Jeomwon, Dohun, Minju, Yunjin, Dogyeong, Geonhui, Yuchan, handsome Seojin — and so many more. I remember your faces, but so much time has passed that your names are beginning to blur. I will miss you all dearly for a long, long time. I'll always be rooting for you — keep going."

The letter is filled with the shop owner's affection for the children who visited over the years.

For children who grew up in the 1990s, the neighborhood stationery shop was both a department store and a playground. Kids would huddle around the arcade machines out front, waiting their turn. Mornings brought a rush of students scrambling to buy school supplies, and on birthdays, children would arrive hand-in-hand with their parents to pick out a robot toy. It is a scene that now exists only in memory.

According to Statistics Korea, the number of stationery shops fell from 25,868 in 1999 to just 7,213 in 2022 — and most of those that remain are office supply stores. The old-fashioned neighborhood stationery shop may have become a relic of the past, visible now only in textbooks.

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