[2020 National Audit] 72% of SME Exclusive Stores Closed... Sales Also Declined

Budget Cuts and Store Closures

Exclusive Store for Small and Medium Enterprises (Data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] It has been revealed that 72% of the 'exclusive stores for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),' created to support the market expansion of SMEs, have closed, and the stores still in operation are experiencing poor sales performance, making urgent countermeasures necessary.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to Song Gap-seok, a member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 25 exclusive SME stores were established from 2011 to 2019, but currently, 18 have closed and only 7 remain.

In 2019, an operating budget of 2.985 billion KRW was provided to 13 stores, generating sales of 11.947 billion KRW. Sales have been decreasing each year relative to the support funds. The sales-to-support ratio was 4.37 times in 2016 but dropped to 4 times in 2019.

Assemblyman Song Gap-seok emphasized, "While the budget for exclusive stores should be further expanded to promote market expansion for SMEs, the budget has been reduced due to poor sales, which has instead led to store closures. We need to expand exclusive stores through measures such as increasing regional flagship store openings, strengthening experiential and exhibition functions, and transforming them into policy stores that enable untact purchasing."

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