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Department Stores Compete for Customers in Rainy Season

Published: 04 Jan. 2003, 19:10

Department stores are featuring an array of promotional events, including discounts and free car tune-ups, to entice customers during the rainy season. The timing of the events coincides with a recent drop in department store sales, sometimes 10 percent below average figures.

Shinsegae's flagship store will give away stockings and umbrellas to customers who shop on rainy days in the beginning of July, Korea's rainy season. An official at Shinsegae says, "We came up with the idea so we could help customers shop in more comfortable environment."

Hyundai Department Store will offer a free sanitary check-up of customers' kitchens in a door-to-door campaign until July. A total of eleven employees will visit ten homes per day and conduct the sanitary check-ups free of charge, phoning in the results 7 to 10 days after the inspection. For more information call (02)2225-7460.

The Chonho branch of the department store will conduct a sanitary check-up service for kitchen utensils until July 31. Customers who are interested in the service are encouraged to bring their kitchen utensils to the customer relations desk at the store.

LG Department Store provides free engine tune-ups, changes fuses and light bulbs in cars for 30 customers from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Tuesday at the Buchon store and every Thursday in Ansan. Customers that present identification can borrow an umbrella for up to three days.

by Cha Jin-yong