Coin-conscious consumers in Korea buy clothes by the kilogram

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Coin-conscious consumers in Korea buy clothes by the kilogram

Published: 13 Feb. 2023, 18:33 Updated: 13 Feb. 2023, 19:31

Gram Deal, a thrift shop in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, offers clothing to consumers for 2,900 won ($2.3) per 100 grams (0.22 pounds) [YOO JI-YOEN]

As inflation and rising interest rates continue to put pressure on people's wallets, young cost-conscious shoppers are seeking a way to get their hands on clothes by the gram, just like meat and produce.

Gram Deal, a vintage clothing shop in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, is one thrift store that gives customers just that.

Inside a huge, 330-square-meter (3,552-square-foot) warehouse, countless rows of some 10,000 articles of vintage clothing hang from wall to wall. Customers browse rows of the clothing racks and pick up pieces like a treasure hunt. The store sells all of its clothing for the flat rate of 2,900 won ($2.3) per 100 grams (0.22 pounds).

A scale at the "kilo shop" Gram Deal shows clothes weighing 1,560 grams that cost about 45,000 won. [YOO JI-YOEN]

A thick puffer jacket coat, a knitted cardigan, and a new pair of beige cotton pants, for example, weighed 1,560 grams, costing about 45,000 won.

It was college student Lee Na-yoon's second time visiting Gram Deal on Saturday. For the bargain price of 100,000 won, she could walk away with five to six pieces of winter outwear, instead of easily spending the same amount on just one item elsewhere.

“There’s no burden even if I buy several pieces, plus there’s the fun of finding a good deal, so I visit kilo shops often these days,” the 25-year-old said, referring to the store by its Korean term, kilo shops. “I also travel to the outskirts of Seoul or to Gyeonggi like the city of Osan because I can shop for a much cheaper price.”

Kilo shops also don’t necessarily mean secondhand clothes.

Street fashion brand M Playground has been hosting a by-the-kilogram sale for brand new clothes at its Sinchon branch in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, since Saturday.

The kilo sale made a comeback after receiving great feedback from the last kilo sale at its Hongdae branch last month. The price is 30,000 won for the first kilogram, and 3,000 won for ever 100 grams after that.

The emergence of kilo sales is seen as a byproduct of the economic recession.

With continuing inflation and rising interest rates, most major retail companies saw their business shrink in the fourth quarter.

Shinegae International, which reported an all-time high operating profit of 115.3 billion won and revenue of 1.55 trillion won last year, saw its on-year operating profit decline 35.8 percent to 19.3 billion won during the October-December period.

Hyundai Department Store’s The Handsome clothing brand saw operating profit decrease 4.9 percent on year in the fourth quarter to 49.2 billion won.

Luxury brands, which boomed during the pandemic, saw a sharp decline in sales.

The growth rate of luxury fashion divisions at Lotte, Hyundai and Shinsegae department stores all fell year-on-year. Sales of Lotte Department Store's luxury fashion divisions fell 12.1 percent on year, while those of Hyundai Department Store slid 7.4 percent and Shinsegae Department Store went down 8.7 percent on year.

A post on Danggeun Market, an online secondhand market, is selling a bouquet of flowers that the person used for a graduation ceremony. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The 2023 outlook for Korea’s fashion and retail industry is hardly any brighter, and more Korean consumers are turning from gasimbi (purchasing for satisfaction) to gaseongbi (purchasing for cost-effectiveness).

Recently, people have been throwing around the word godseongbi, a portmanteau of god and gaseongbi referring to the extreme pursuit of cost-effectiveness, showing that the standard for price versus performance has been set higher. It is similar to Japan’s puchi pura, an abbreviation for “petit price,” meaning cheap.

Such consumption trends are grouped together to constitute the “cherrysumer,” referring to frugal consumers cherry-picking the benefits offered to promote products, according to the Trend Korea 2023, released annually by Seoul National University's Consumption Trend Center.

“People are picking good quality products at an affordable price over poor quality products at a lower cost,” said Jeon Mi-young, a researcher at the center.

BY YOO JI-YOEN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]