A winter sports wonderland in southern Seoul

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A winter sports wonderland in southern Seoul

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Consumers check out the latest snowboard apparel displayed in a store in Nonhyeon-dong last week. There are around 40 ski and snowboard shops clustered around the area.


The frigid weather in the winter can be a curse to certain commercial areas like traditional markets and outdoor malls, as many consumers tend to stay in the warmth of their homes rather than venture outside.

The bitter cold, however, doesn’t seem to deter people from visiting the ski and snowboard goods street in Nonhyeon-dong, southern Seoul. In fact, it often brings in even more business.

On a cloudy morning last week, A&A Sports, the biggest and oldest shop on the street, was packed with customers of all ages trying on helmets, bindings and an assortment of other ski and snowboard gear.

“This time of the year is the busiest season for us, which means it is the most prosperous for businesses as well,” said Kim Hyun-young, a department chief at A&A Sports. “Even customers from regional areas and other countries shop for ski and snowboard goods [in this area], as it basically has everything you need to go to the slopes.”

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A consumer looks at a ski last week at A&A Sports located near Hakdong Station on line No. 7 in Nonhyeon-dong, southern Seoul. By Jeon Min-kyu

As he walked down aisles of Burton snowboard apparel and Salomon boots talking about how prices in this area compare to those at retail stores in other parts of town, two Chinese tourists caught his eye. ”Can we get these [skis, boots, bindings, poles and gloves] delivered to Myeongdong?” one of them asked Kim in slow, broken English, while pointing to the items they had chosen to bring back to China. The store then helped the visitors transport their purchases via a van.

According to Kim, more tourists - particularly those from China and Japan - are coming to the store. The area sees a fair share of locals, too. Yoon Jung-ho, an office worker who took some time to visit the store during his lunch hour last week, said he prefers Nonhyeon-dong over other areas for his winter sports shopping trips.

”I come here more than once every winter to shop for snowboard apparel and other gear,” Yoon said. “I’m aware that there are shops near ski and snowboard resorts, like at Yongpyong Resort [in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province], but they have a limited number of designs and brands compared with the stores here.”

He added that many of the vendors here have a deep knowledge of skiing and snowboarding, so customers can ask plenty of questions before making a purchase.

The street’s history as a snowboard and ski mecca dates back to 1995. Until then, the handful of ski and snowboard equipment stores in Seoul were all scattered around the city, while others were located in regional areas near the ski resorts. With the growing popularity of skiing and snowboarding activities among the Korean public - which is partially tied to the implementation of a five-day workweek - some store owners decided to gather in one area to provide more convenience to consumers. Back then, the price of land per square meter in Nonhyeon-dong was relatively cheap by today’s standards, and there was plenty of space available. So store owners saw it as the perfect place to create a ski and snowboard equipment zone.

At first, big stores like A&A Sports relocated to the area, according to industry sources, and then smaller shops followed suit. The competition grew fierce, leading to a drop in prices. Today, stores commonly offer discounts of up to 40 percent this time of year to lure customers.

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Currently, there are around 40 different shops along the main streets and alleys leading from Hakdong Station on line No. 7 toward the Cha Medical Hospital and Hilltop Hotel. Almost nine out of ten shops sell snowboard equipment, as it is more popular among the young generation. Thirty percent of customers that shop in the area are skiers, while the remaining 70 percent are snowboarders, store owners say.

The street stepped into the limelight in the winter of 2002, when record snow blanketed Seoul. Traffic was regulated on the hilly street because of the amount of snow that fell. In an effort to take advantage of the unusually heavy snowfall, some locals - including a few store owners themselves - slapped on goggles, stepped onto their snowboards and got in a few runs in the middle of the bustling city.

But the area has come upon some hard times as of late. Sales have grown since the early 2000s but have stagnated recently, a result of the economic downturn that started last fall.

And even though the economy is showing signs of a recovery, sales for stores in the area aren’t seeing much impact. In fact, sales this year are lower than in 2008, according to several shops, including Best Snowboard and Board Korea.

“The rise in material costs and the fluctuation in the exchange rate have made it tough this year for many stores here,” said a shop owner who asked to remain unnamed.

The burden is heavier on smaller stores than it is on big stores, as is the case in most industries.

“Big stores take in more of the overall profits,” said Yu Jae-woong, the manager of Snowmac, a smaller shop. “Especially in a time when the real economy hasn’t recovered yet [from the economic crisis], business is still lagging for us.”

Indeed: Compared to the jam-packed A&A Sports down the street, this shop had just a few customers.

“In summer, business for us is even tougher,” Yu said. “Though we sell water skis and wakeboards, the big stores get all the sales for the summer items as well.”


By Lee Eun-joo [angie@joongang.co.kr]
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