Limitations of 'Chicken = Delivery Food'... Enthralled by Chimaek Bars and Playtown

Mainly Used as a Testbed for New Menus Like Pizza
Goobne Opens 'Playtown' in Hongdae... 'Playground'
Kyochon Opens 'Kyochon Pilbang' in Itaewon... 'Chimaek Bar'
BBQ Sells Brunch and Desserts in Songridan-gil

As the domestic chicken market reaches saturation, the chicken industry is strengthening its competitiveness by opening various specialized stores.

On the first floor of 'Goobne Playtown' located in Mapo-gu, Seoul, foods such as chicken and pizza are displayed. Photo by Moon Hyewon

According to the food and beverage and dining industry on the 17th, ZN Food, which operates Goobne Chicken, opened 'Goobne Playtown' in Mapo-gu, Seoul on the 15th. Goobne Playtown is an experiential store showcasing not only various Goobne Chicken menus but also a variety of foods such as pizza and egg tarts. ZN Food has also applied for the trademark rights for this brand.

Kyochon is also implementing a differentiation strategy by introducing specialized stores different from its existing ones. Recently, Kyochon F&B opened a chicken and beer bar-style store called 'Kyochon Pilbang' in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Kyochon Pilbang offers a different concept, service, and new menu from existing stores and is used as a space for consumer testing. The store also features a space where customers can enjoy omakase, a recent trend in the dining industry.

Genesis BBQ opened a 160-pyeong (approximately 529 square meters) complex dining space called 'BBQ Village' on Songridan-gil in Songpa-gu, using it as a testbed before launching new products. Songridan-gil is known as a hot place with a large young floating population, located near Seokchon Lake in Jamsil and Lotte World Mall. At BBQ Village, various menus such as chicken, brunch, bakery, coffee, and wood-fired pizza are sold while monitoring customer reactions.

In this way, the chicken industry is enhancing competitiveness by introducing specialized stores and new store formats to respond to the saturated market. In particular, they have settled in commercial areas with a high floating population of young customers to quickly respond to the latest dining trends. They are also responding swiftly to the increasing demand from foreigners rapidly entering the country in the endemic era.

Professor Seo Yong-gu of the Department of Business Administration at Sookmyung Women's University said, "The way to turn the red ocean chicken market into a blue ocean is to develop premium menus targeting the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), which has the strongest purchasing power." He added, "A strategy that satisfies the sophisticated tastes of the MZ generation, who value value consumption, while differentiating from other companies will be effective for the time being. Moreover, I believe that K-Food must have this level of price competitiveness to enter the global market."

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