Yongin City's Character 'Joayang' Appears at Emart Following Everland

Pop-up Store Opens at Jukjeon Branch... Sequential Operation at 7 Stores
Portion of Profits to Support Economic Independence of Self-Support Center Workers

'Joayang,' the character of Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province, has appeared at E-Mart following Everland.

Yongin City announced on the 25th that it opened the city character 'Joayang Pop-up Store' on the first floor of E-Mart Starfield Market Jukjeon Branch located in Jukjeon-dong, Suji-gu on the 24th. On the same day, the city signed an agreement with E-Mart and the Yongin Regional Self-Support Center to sequentially operate pop-up stores at seven E-Mart stores in the region.

Lee Sang-il (left), Mayor of Yongin, is experiencing an event at the 'Joayang Pop-up Store' opened on the 24th at Emart Starfield Market Jukjeon Branch. Provided by Yongin City

According to the agreement, the city and the Yongin Regional Self-Support Center will sell goods and related products of the city character 'Joayang' at E-Mart stores in Yongin. E-Mart will provide space for sales and support promotion to ensure smooth operation of the pop-up stores.

The pop-up store at the Jukjeon branch, which opened that day, will operate until the 20th of next month. Operating hours are from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and it will not operate on the Starfield Market Jukjeon Branch’s closing days. Starting with the Jukjeon branch, the pop-up stores will be sequentially operated at ▲E-Mart Traders Guseong Branch ▲Dongbaek Branch ▲Yongin Branch ▲Suji Branch ▲Heungdeok Branch ▲Bora Branch.

In particular, part of the profits generated from the pop-up stores will be provided as incentives to workers at the Yongin Regional Self-Support Center to help their economic independence and reinvest in local self-support projects. This creates a virtuous cycle of self-support project growth and job creation.

The pop-up store sells over 80 types of Joayang goods such as keyrings, dolls, grip talks, and mouse pads at a 10% discount from the regular price. Payment is card-only, and consumers who purchase products worth more than 20,000 won by the 26th will receive a 'Joayang L-shaped file' as a gift. The event also features a limited sale of about 1,000 school supply sets composed of spring notebooks, memo pads, pencils, erasers, and notebooks prepared by the Yongin Regional Self-Support Center.

Until the 16th of next month, a 'Visit Certification Event' will be held. Visitors who upload a visit certification photo on their personal social networking service (SNS) and submit the post via a Naver form can win prizes through a lottery.

'Joayang,' the Yongin City character shaped like a dragon, has enjoyed rare popularity for a local government public character since its debut in 2016. In 2021, it won the grand prize in the regional category at the 'Our Neighborhood Character Contest' hosted by the Korea Creative Content Agency. The 'Joayang L-shaped file' was also introduced in the special education curriculum elementary school national textbook.

Since April 2022, the city has opened 'Joayang IN Store' at Giheung Station to start operating self-support projects and character goods business, and in 2023, it also launched on the 'Naver Smart Store.' In August last year, a promotional center and store were established within the city hall. The city plans to renew and reopen the Giheung Station store in April.

The city is also planning a character festival that gathers characters from local governments and companies nationwide, including 'Joayang,' at the 'Yongin Citizens' Day' festival to be held in October.

Lee Sang-il, mayor of Yongin City, said, "'Joayang' goes beyond being a simple character; it will enhance Yongin's brand value and give a great gift of hope to the workers at the regional self-support center who strive for economic independence." Kang Jeong-mo, Executive Director of E-Mart Sales Division 3, also said, "The pop-up store will be a successful model that can approach citizens beyond just a character merchandise store," adding, "We will put more effort into the development of Yongin and the growth of 'Joayang.'"

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