Seongnam Gets Help from Indie Bands to Boost Commerce

Sinheung-dong, where registered cultural heritage Hirotsu House is found, now has several independent bands performing around the area every Friday until October 2. The municipality of Seongnam, Gyeonggi has put the plan in place, hoping that the rarely visited town will lure bigger crowds.

Considering that young consumers are usually the most passionate and their presence helps boost commerce, government organizations and business owners have invited indie bands to serve as the main attraction to revive local markets and businesses.

According to a restaurant owner, "The atmosphere of this town had really deteriorated because it's so old and run-down, on top of the outbreak", referring to the recent MERS crisis, which South Korea is still recovering from. "But things are looking up thanks to the band's performances".

The people in Seongnam aren't pulling off this project on their own. The municipal government and the national government have allotted the initiative with 60 million won ($51,519).

One of the independent musicians is Doritori, an all-female duo who often perform for the public with other bands in front of Hongik University (Seoul), entertained the crowd in Sinheung-dong on July 24.

These indie bands don't just perform in open spaces, but also in commercial establishments and around the downtown area. They also have performances in shopping arcades around the neighborhood as well as in railway stations like the Sinheung Underground Station. 

The scheduled concerts around the area have been organized by merchants in Yonghyeon Market, which has been greatly affected by the development of big shopping marts. With around 3,000 families forced to leave Nam District, the number of daily shoppers has lessened to around 5,000 from the usual (more or less) 20,000.

The Yonghyeon Market Merchant Committee members have collaborated with 20 to 30-year old storeowners to capture the attention of younger audiences and to offer people more reasons to visit the district. Of course, they see to it that elderly customers don't feel left out. They have also included traditional performances, as well as taekkyon and taekwondo demonstrations, to the list of activities. 

Their initiative has proven to be successful, what with the appearance of more shoppers. "With more attention to youth marketing, the number of customers has increased to about 10,000 per day", committee vice president Jeong Tae-sik says.