[Report] "Small Business Owners and Credit Loans Are Depleted... When COVID-19 Positive Texts Arrive, Customers Drop Sharply"

[Report] Visiting Cheonggye Tool Market and Goyang Furniture Complex
"No orders for half a year, survived on loans but now with resurgence"
Loans depleted... Small business owners despair as cases rise again
"No end in sight, struggling to survive"
"Afraid customers might be infected, scared of them coming"

Due to the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the area around Cheonggyecheon Tool Market in Jung-gu, Seoul, a dense area of small business owners in the Seoul metropolitan area including Seoul and Gyeonggi, showed a bleak scene on the 21st amid continued recession. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Moon Hyewon, Kim Heeyoon] "Instead of sales, debts keep piling up, but we still have to pay rent and labor costs every month, making it difficult to maintain our livelihood."

This is the complaint of merchant A at Cheonggye Tool Market in Jung-gu, Seoul. At 2 p.m. on the 20th, the Cheonggye Tool Market street, which used to be bustling with parcel loading and unloading, was so quiet that not even voices could be heard. The empty cargo carts scattered here and there seemed to represent the merchants sitting blankly on chairs with no work. Although they go out to sell directly, trying to sell even one more item from the accumulating inventory day by day, almost no one meets them due to avoidance of face-to-face contact.

The resurgence of COVID-19 has dealt a severe blow to small business clusters in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. The stamina of those who have been holding on with loans and other means has now bottomed out due to the prolonged crisis.

Due to the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul and Gyeonggi, which are densely populated with small business owners, continues to experience a recession. On the 21st, the area around Cheonggyecheon Tool Market in Jung-gu, Seoul, showed a deserted appearance. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Recently, A had to lay off 2 out of 5 employees. A said, "Both domestic and overseas demand have completely stopped, and it has been almost half a year since orders disappeared," adding, "The sales ratio is about half domestic and half overseas, but domestic demand is dead, and the goods sent overseas are being returned because those countries have locked down, leaving only refunds to be made." He continued, "With the halt in export volumes, export sales have dropped to one-tenth compared to the same period last year," and added, "There is no end in sight to the COVID-19 crisis, and it only gets worse, so the future looks even more bleak."

Hong Youngpyo, head of the Seoul branch of the Korea Industrial Supplies Association, who runs a tool company here, said, "An elder who has been operating at Cheonggye Tool Market for 70 years since its inception recently moved to another area in tears due to poor sales," adding, "With the Seoul city and Jung-gu office pushing redevelopment near Cheonggyecheon, tool market merchants are at risk of losing their livelihoods, and with COVID-19 on top of that, they are going through days of despair."

The owner of tool company B, which sells adhesives and other products, lamented, "This is much harder than during the IMF crisis," adding, "Since all are small business owners with specialized skills, it is difficult to find other jobs now, so even closing down is not easy."

On the 21st, as the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) resurges, increasing difficulties for small business owners, a banner announcing store closures is hung in the Goyang Furniture Complex in Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

On the same afternoon, the Goyang Furniture Complex located in Siksadong, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, was equally desolate. In the early 2000s, it was a large furniture complex with over 200 stores, but now it is scattered into three complexes barely maintaining its existence, and COVID-19 has dealt a fatal blow.

The parking lot of the second complex, where 21 stores are gathered, was mostly empty. C, who has been running a furniture store for 18 years, complained, "There are barely one or two customer groups a day," adding, "When a COVID-19 case alert message comes from the surrounding area, customers stop coming from that day."

D, who has been running a furniture store for 10 years, said, "I have barely survived by living off a 10 million won small business loan and a 35 million won personal loan, but the money is almost gone," adding, "Sales have dropped by 70%, and my spouse and I cook meals in the store bathroom to get by, but seeing the news of COVID-19 resurgence makes me really hopeless."

On the 21st, as the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) resurges, the difficulties faced by small business owners are increasing, and the Goyang Furniture Complex in Gyeonggi Province appears quiet. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

A customer visited a furniture store the reporters visited, but left after looking around for less than five minutes. E, who has been running a furniture store here for 20 years, said, "I am scared of customers coming because of the COVID-19 spread, but if they don't come, we starve, so it's frustrating," adding, "Our complex has a higher proportion of customers in their 40s and 50s looking for office furniture or replacing furniture when moving rather than newlyweds buying household items, but these days there is no moving demand and almost no one is replacing furniture. On top of that, COVID-19 has worsened the situation, so I am worried," sighing deeply.

Gyeong Seunggi, chairman of the Goyang Furniture Complex Council, who was met at the furniture complex, said, "I have worked at Goyang Furniture Complex since 1995 for 25 years, but I have never seen such difficult times as now," adding, "Until early this year, we tried to overcome the crisis by holding furniture fairs, but with the spread of non-face-to-face culture, we are very worried about how to overcome this in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.