With Gift Limits Raised... Livestock Market 'Bustling' While Cheonggwa Market 'Sighs'

Report on Majang-dong Livestock Market and Gyeongdong Market

Majang-dong Livestock Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] “Fold the side mirrors!”

As the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, Majang-dong Livestock Market has become lively again. Due to the narrow roads, delivery vehicles folded their side mirrors to pass safely without accidents. When the delivery vehicles arrived, butcher shop employees ran around loading luxuriously packaged Hanwoo gift sets onto the vehicles. Employee A (35 years old) at a butcher shop said, “Because of COVID-19, people don’t come in person, but online deliveries have increased a lot,” adding, “Many people want to gift Hanwoo, so we are extremely busy.”

Although the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases has surpassed 10,000, traditional markets are expecting a Lunar New Year sales boom along with the increased gift limit. However, merchants selling items that are difficult to price as expensive gifts expressed their hardships, saying they have not benefited much, showing mixed fortunes.

On the 27th, many people visited Majang-dong Livestock Market and Cheongnyangni Gyeongdong Market in Seoul to prepare for the Lunar New Year. This is analyzed to be influenced by the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Prohibition of Improper Solicitation and Graft (Kim Young-ran Act), passed on the 9th of last month in the National Assembly, which raised the gift value limit for agricultural and marine products during holidays from the current 100,000 won to 200,000 won.

Employee A at a butcher shop in Majang-dong sighed with relief, saying that although prices have risen, customers have not decreased. He said, “Prices increased by 1,000 won per 100g, but compared to last year’s Chuseok, the number of customers has not decreased, so it seems less affected by the spread of COVID-19,” adding, “Some customers are purchasing to meet the 200,000 won limit for Lunar New Year gifts.”

Meat restaurants also supplemented their insufficient sales with gift sets. Restaurant owner B (55 years old) in Majang-dong explained, “Due to the spread of COVID-19, company dinners and family events disappeared, so customers decreased by 10% compared to last year’s Chuseok,” but added, “The gift sets prepared in advance are covering the remaining sales.”

Cheongnyangni Gyeongdong Market

However, merchants selling items that find it difficult to reach the 200,000 won limit complained that they have not benefited. They said that only Hanwoo-level products make the gift value limit increase meaningful, and other merchants do not feel the benefits. Merchant C (60 years old), a fruit and vegetable seller at Gyeongdong Market, said, “Since the price per box is only 30,000 to 40,000 won, it has little impact on sales,” expressing dissatisfaction, “Rather, due to the CJ Logistics delivery union strike, goods cannot be shipped, and sales that used to reach 30 million won per day during the holiday peak have dropped to about 15 million won this year.” Since the 28th of last month, the CJ Logistics delivery union has been striking, claiming that the company is not implementing the social agreement to protect delivery workers.

Among them, some merchants prepared premium products aiming to increase sales. Merchant D (52 years old), a fruit and vegetable seller at Gyeongdong Market, said, “Premium products priced over 100,000 won, luxuriously packaged with the highest quality fruits, have gained popularity, and sales have doubled compared to when we first started online sales in 2017,” smiling, “It was worth persistently purchasing only the highest quality fruits at the Garak Market auction held at 2 a.m.”

Merchants selling items unrelated to gifts have fallen into even more difficult situations. Due to social distancing, restaurants that used to receive deliveries are also struggling. Vegetable wholesaler E (70 years old) at Gyeongdong Market appealed, “Restaurants that used to receive deliveries have disappeared or reduced their purchase volumes,” adding, “Many people visit the market and the holiday atmosphere is present, but sales are only about 70% of last year’s Lunar New Year sales.”

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