District mayor tours traditional markets and shopping streets to hear merchants' concerns and boost local commerce struggling with holiday price hikes and sluggish consumer spending
Seoul's Dobong-gu visited traditional markets and shopping streets in the district ahead of the Chuseok holiday to encourage merchants and take stock of the challenges facing local commerce.
The visits were organized to hear directly from merchants at traditional markets and shopping streets struggling with rising prices and weakened consumer spending ahead of the holiday, and to inject new energy into the local market scene.
Dobong-gu District Mayor Kim Dong-wook toured seven markets across two days — visiting Sindobong Market, Banghak-dong Dokkaebi Market, Ssangmun Market and Ssangmunnyeok Dulleo Shopping Street on Monday, then Changdong Sinchang Market, Changdong Golmok Market and Baekun Market on Wednesday. At each stop, Kim greeted merchants and listened to their accounts of holiday-season business conditions, sales figures and the difficulties they feel on the ground.
He also spoke with residents who had come to shop at the markets ahead of Chuseok, gathering feedback on inconveniences and ideas for revitalizing the markets. He urged greater public participation and called on residents to shop locally and help spread a culture of neighborhood consumption.
Dobong-gu said it will actively incorporate the merchants' on-site feedback into district policy and continue developing practical measures to revitalize local commerce in ways that traditional market vendors and small business owners can tangibly feel.
"I am grateful to the traditional market merchants who serve as a steadfast pillar of the local economy despite difficult economic conditions, and to the residents who came out to shop at the markets," District Mayor Kim said. He added, "The district will listen carefully to voices from the field and do its utmost to provide practical support and revitalize local commerce so that small business owners and traditional market merchants can operate with stability."
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