By Considering how small the penalties are Costco officials must have determined that they make more money paying the penalties and staying open compared to closing their store:
The Korean unit of U.S. retail giant Costco Wholesale could face a second penalty of 20 million won ($18,000) if it goes ahead with its plan to open its warehouses on Sunday, an official said yesterday.
The U.S. retailer is banned from doing business on the second and fourth Sundays of every month as part of an ordinance meant to help revitalize Korea’s traditional markets as well as mom-and-pop stores.
Korea’s largest retailer E-Mart and other local retail chains have challenged the ordinance in several local courts and won injunctions to delay the implementation of the ban, paving the way for them to resume operations as normal.
Costco Wholesale did not take the legal step and shut down its facilities every other Sunday for six weeks.
However, the U.S. retailer resumed its business on Sept. 9, a move that prompted Seoul’s southwestern Yeongdeungpo local government, home to Costco Wholesale, to slap a penalty of 10 million won on it on Thursday.
“Costco Wholesale will be subject to a penalty of 20 million won for a second violation of the ordinance if it opens its warehouses [this Sunday],” said Jeon Young-jin, an official handling the issue at Yeongdeungpo District.
Every subsequent violation will result in the imposition of a 30 million won penalty, Jeon said.
Costco Wholesale has said on its Web site that it will close only on New Year’s Day, Lunar New Year’s Day and the Chuseok holiday, the Korean harvest festival that this year falls on Sept. 30. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
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5:27 pm on September 22nd, 2012 1
Well, well, well…I hadn’t heard that they were blowing-off the every other Sunday thing. I got a handout from them a few months ago in the store with a calendar showing all the Sundays there were closed so I thought they were sticking to it. But – looking over the calendar, I was wondering about this Sunday (23 Sep) since it is the last weekend day before Chusok. 20 million won?? – if you’ve ever been to a Costco over here, you will easily see that they probably make that much in the first 10 minutes they’re open on Sunday.
This reminds me a similar standoff between WalMart and the State of South Carolina. I was stationed at Ft. Jackson back in the late 80s and I remember the first WalMart moving in on Two Notch Road. At that time, the blue laws stated that ordinary retailers had to be closed on Sundays. I believe some stores that sold ‘life essentials’ – i.e. gasoline, food, etc. could still be open, but this was long before the days of Super WallMart so at that time they only sold merchandise. The laws were even more convoluted regarding alcohol, but that’s for another discussion. Well – as Christmas rolled closer, the manager announced that they would not close on any Sundays from Thanksgiving up until Christmas, knowing full-well that they would make up any fines they had to pay in minutes after opening. Of course it turned into a media circus and I remember something about Sheriff’s Deputies arresting the manager and trying to chain the front doors of the store closed. I left for Korea soon after that so I don’t remember the final resolution but fast-forward to the mid 90s when I was back at Jackson once again and now there is a Super WalMart right right outside the gate, open 24/7. Seems the almighty dollar won-out in the end. It will be interesting to see how this situation with Costco here in Korea works out…
5:53 pm on September 22nd, 2012 2
Continued disobedience of a law ought to get the chain’s executives arrested for Contempt of Court or the Korean equivalent…
6:30 pm on September 22nd, 2012 3
Once again, big government interferes with job creators. Oh, those stinking liberals.
6:59 pm on September 22nd, 2012 4
Isn’t Emart also open on Sundays?
7:02 pm on September 22nd, 2012 5
…”Korea’s largest retailer E-Mart and other local retail chains have challenged the ordinance in several local courts and won injunctions to delay the implementation of the ban, paving the way for them to resume operations as normal.”
Missed this part…Double standard, eh?
7:03 pm on September 22nd, 2012 6
#3,
Lee Myung Bak is a liberal?
7:31 pm on September 22nd, 2012 7
Teadrinker is my straight man.
7:50 pm on September 22nd, 2012 8
There was a delay of the ordinance for a legal reason(s), so does that mean law only applies to those who go to court? Sounds like the ordinance wasn’t deemed legal but is still being used against Waygookin. S. Korea, same same
7:51 pm on September 22nd, 2012 9
Ditto # 3
This is just one more example of government sticking its nose in where it doesn’t belong. Please, spare us the do-gooders.
7:58 pm on September 22nd, 2012 10
The traditional markets (shijang) are dying off because Koreans think that they are too good for the traditional markets. Maybe it makes them feel western going into the large chain supermarkets. I shop nearly 100% at traditional markets, excluding my Vitamin M purchases. (Vitamin M is Mekju, what you people call beer). Everytime I go to the shijang, I buy from the same venders, REAL Korean people who I have a real relationship with. If my girlfriend goes and I don’t, they ask after me, or inquire about my health. I get my food at 40-60% less than I would get it for at a chain supermarket, where the workers couldn’t give a damn about you.
It is just one more way that Korean culture is slowly dying out because the Koreans don’t really appreaciated their culture.
Hanboks are replaced with Dokdo shirts. Pasori, with vacuous K-Pop. Traditional housing, with Soviet-era style souless dogbox apartments and officetels. Sad really.
8:00 pm on September 22nd, 2012 11
The ordinance was written to “supposedly” bring more business to the small neighborhood marts who rarely pay a business anyway. Of course we’ll never know if closing on Sundays brought more business because there won’t be any city survey or research conducted due to city ineptness/laziness etc…If the local mart were to say “Yes” we are doing much better business because of the new ordinance then they might be expected to pay a business tax for the first time.
It’s all about politics and votes for the liberal left.
8:02 pm on September 22nd, 2012 12
This stupid law is from the Seoul government and the neighborhoods in Seoul. What they don’t realize is that the suppliers are often Korean small business owners who benefit from the sales. Also, many small business owners shop at Costco.
8:03 pm on September 22nd, 2012 13
10- The larger stores have lower prices, better quality, and they don’t try to cheat foreigners and younger Koreans.
8:05 pm on September 22nd, 2012 14
Most neighborhood marts use a calculator and never total earnings so couldn’t correctly determine total sales therefore don’t pay a business tax, they just say they don’t earn enough and the tax man doesn’t care.
8:13 pm on September 22nd, 2012 15
#10,
“The traditional markets (shijang) are dying off because Koreans think that they are too good for the traditional markets.”
Haven’t you ever heard of a thing called “variety”? Must everyone like traditional markets and therefore only go to them?
“I get my food at 40-60% less than I would get it for at a chain supermarket, where the workers couldn’t give a damn about you.”
Which is it 40 or 60? That’s the problem, some people like to see the price and know how much they are paying and prefer NOT to haggle. It’s only in your dream that they care about you. Do you really think that if we all did what you do then they(shijang) would care about us too?
8:24 pm on September 22nd, 2012 16
It’s “funny” that Costco is being targeted since so many smaller Korean stores resell products that they buy at Costco. That happen at black market stores and stores that are operating legally. Now who are the hypocrites?
8:33 pm on September 22nd, 2012 17
“The larger stores have:
1. lower prices,
2. better quality,
3.and they don’t try to cheat foreigners and younger Koreans.”
No, they dont.
No, they dont.
On the contrary, they probably give me more than they do Koreans because I speak Korean, act “Korean” in my mannerisms, and they like having a foreigner as a customer, gives them shijang cred, as it were.
TBONETYLR,
Your reasoning is as convoluted as your I.D.
40% cheaper on fruits and vegetables, 60% on side dishes (panchan), kimchee, etc…
I dont haggle, I don’t ask the price. If they want to cheat me, they will only do it once. They people are smart small business owners who will be out of business if they start cheating regulars. And yes, some of them care about me, just as I care about them. Why else would they inquire on a regular basis after me and my family or ask me to sit down in their little shop to chat about things? What’s their angle?
9:19 pm on September 22nd, 2012 18
@Baek In-je
My experiences at the local market have been mixed. I know a guy at the local place that has cheap meat, so I’ll go there if I’m having a barbeque. But I can’t get skinless boneless chicken breasts, the fruit is MORE expensive, and I don’t like the cash nature of the business. I’ve tried using my tax card and I get grumbles and refusals.
It’s all about consumer choice and different people have different desires. When I was in college, I shopped at WalMart because it was generally the cheapest around. After college, when I started making decent money, I stuck to Target – I prefer clean, well designed stores more than saving a few pennies here or there. Here, I go to Homeplus because it’s close to me, it WAS open 24 hours a day, and it has a wider selection in an easier to find manner. On occasion, I’ll go to LotteMart because they carry a couple things that Homeplus doesn’t.
If the traditional markets want to survive, the answer is not hobbling their competitors. The answer is improving their business. Why don’t they build a large building that they can air condition/heat and provide a more comfortable/well designed shopping experience? Why don’t they look to consolidate their services and lower costs, or provide longer hours? Who goes shopping in the middle of the day? Housewives, a demographic that is disappearing. Go to a super market late at night and it’s crowded with the business people.
Really, for me to shop exclusively at local markets, they have to compete. I should be able to go there quickly, find what I need, get checked out, and be home in under an hour. The local market with the haggling, going stall to stall, no shopping carts, hot summer or freezing winter – they just don’t do it for ME. If YOU like it, go for it, but don’t cripple my choices.
9:43 pm on September 22nd, 2012 19
@Comfortable.chairs,
Well put. And I’ll see what I can do about not crippling your choices…because, you know…I have that power.
BTW…have you seen my blog? Click on my name.
9:44 pm on September 22nd, 2012 20
Contempt of court? You must’ve missed the part of the story where the courts so far are siding with the big box merchants. It’s a ridiculous ordinance and has no constitutional (Korean constitution) basis. The sooner the courts strike down that law, the better.
12:01 am on September 23rd, 2012 21
After returning from my Costco experience in Ilsan (thanks GI-Korea for the tip letting me know it was open), I’ll have to say that the word got out because the joint was *packed*. As I read down the posts, I was starting to compose a flamboyant reply in my head until I came to #18-Comfortable.Chairs. I need say no more because he hit the nail right on the head…
1:30 am on September 23rd, 2012 22
# 17,
“Why else would they ask me to sit down in their little shop to chat about things? What’s their angle?”
I’ll let you answer your own question…”they like having a foreigner as a customer.”
Why? Because having a foreigner around makes them look good among Koreans and let me think…to learn English, Duh! You’re being used and you don’t even know it. They’re getting back any discount you think they’re giving you, trust me. Isn’t it time to go “sit down” with them now?
3:09 am on September 23rd, 2012 23
#17,
They dont speak English and they dont try.
Yes, they are using me. They are not interested in me. They want other Koreans to think they are cool.
You are the #1 troll on this site. Congratulations: your mom always said you’d amount to something.
3:16 am on September 23rd, 2012 24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK5U3PgIVAQ
Hoist on your own petar there Baek in-je.
1:01 pm on September 23rd, 2012 25
Liberal expats bashing communitarian Koreans …. aren´t the liberals to blame for the current western financial crisis?
3:07 pm on September 23rd, 2012 26
25- You are clearly out of touch with the realities of Korean shopping if you believe that only expats shop at Costco. Try visiting a Costco and you’ll see your friends and neighbors buying up everything in sight. You’ll see many of those Korean small shop owners buying large boxes of candy, chocopies, and muffins to resell at double the price they paid for it. That’s right, many of those small shop owners who are screaming “Close Costco” go shopping at Costco. You’ll see them with full carts trying to sneak in and out as quickly as possible so they can get to the “Close Costco” rally down the street.
5:25 pm on September 23rd, 2012 27
#26 Yes, a lot of people buy from big retail corporations, but in doesnt not change the fact that small shop owners are in danger. The problem with liberalism is their ignorant belief that people are all the same, so we all must play by the same rule, a rule that sides with the strong … The Seoul government is just trying to help the small shop owners by forcing them to close on Sundays … big retail corporations will profit less, just that ….
5:55 pm on September 23rd, 2012 28
The only problem with the Government providing all those benefits to folks like school lunches, free schooling, healthcare, and cable TV is that sooner or later they either need to raise taxes on the folks who are working or print more money…
And we can see how well that works over in Greece and Argentina… It’ll reach the rest of us, too, unless we wake up.
Remember Eichmann was just a very efficient bureaucrat. And Stalin was, too…
6:51 pm on September 23rd, 2012 29
It’s just a minor government induced inconvenience (and therefore more political kabuki theater). Koreans would just go on Saturday or wait until Monday.
7:41 pm on September 23rd, 2012 30
As a economic principle I believe that the government should regulate businesses as little as possible. Government trying to pick winners & losers almost always ends up foxtrotting things up. However the law is the law & if you disagree with a law then work to change it. There weren’t any big box stores in Korea when I was stationed there but when I was stationed in Ft Bliss, TX & my wife & I went to Juarez, Mexico to shop we mostly went to the street merchants rather than the big stores. However this was OUR choice. Here is Kentucky the “blue law” says you can’t buy alcohol on Sunday. I don’t think these laws have any merit & should be changed. If I plan to drink on Sunday then I buy up on Saturday so what is the point of the law?
7:55 pm on September 23rd, 2012 31
“Here is Kentucky the “blue law” says you can’t buy alcohol on Sunday. I don’t think these laws have any merit & should be changed. If I plan to drink on Sunday then I buy up on Saturday so what is the point of the law?”
In America the earliest Sunday-closing laws date back to 1610 in the colony of Virginia. They included not simply the mandatory closing of businesses on Sundays, but also mandatory church service participation. Blue laws were originally drafted explicitly to accommodate Sunday worship services and a Christian sense of morality. They want to make sure to let you know who is boss and they can still control our government. It also makes Moral Molly happy once a week.
10:23 pm on September 23rd, 2012 32
“Hamster on a wheel. You want to be my friend but we can only be friends inside the market?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK5U3PgIVAQ
Hoist on your own petar there Baek in-je”
Why would you purposely misquote from the video on my blog?
10:55 pm on September 23rd, 2012 33
30- Read the article. Korean courts have ruled that the law cannot be applied to large stores, and Korean stores like Lottemart and E-Mart are opening on Sundays without a problem. But the Seoul government still insists on fining Costco.
11:04 pm on September 23rd, 2012 34
#33,
Of course…because it is a foreign comapny. I once parked my foreign car with SOFA plates a half block down from Geikos in Itaewon. I came out to find that I had a ticket, but none of the other cars had a ticket. I walked down the whole block looking. I complained to Yongsan-gu office, but they just ignored me.
5:15 am on September 24th, 2012 35
#34 – that was your first mistake, parking a SOFA-plated vehicle in Itaewon. Of course the cops will ticket those vehicles, because the way the system is set-up, they are guaranteed to have the ticket paid since you can’t do anything at the vehicle reg. office without checking for unpaid tickets first. The average Korean ignores these tickets for years and usually the issuing offices just give up, getting tired of re-sending them. Not an option for a SOFA-plated vehicle – even if its not your ticket, if your car got it (even before you owned it), you still have to pay – no exceptions to policy – no way out. Its the perfect racket to funnel revenue into the KNP’s coffers…
5:37 am on September 24th, 2012 36
I like COSTCO pizza. They ought to open up more stores. Traditional market is outdated – at least in Seoul.
5:38 am on September 24th, 2012 37
Costco should open up pizza franchises.
5:39 am on September 24th, 2012 38
Chicken bake and hot dogs
6:23 am on September 24th, 2012 39
Bulgogi bake is the best~~~
12:11 am on September 25th, 2012 40
Chicken bake gets my vote.
6:04 am on September 25th, 2012 41
Baek In-je, I posted the quote (exchanging market for gym) with a link to your video. The audience can judge for itself. Please to be noting that your youtube video now has 14 more views than when I put up the link.
You’re now 0.0000000014 of the way to beating PSY’s youtube Guinness Record.
6:48 am on September 25th, 2012 42
You are mixing sagwa and orange-e.
7:18 am on January 22nd, 2013 43
[...] Our only Costco experience has been at the Busan location. Take the subway to Mangmi Station (302) on the brown line (line 3), go out exit 2. From here you will take a ₩3,000 taxi ride by telling the driver to take you to “Costco” 코스트코, if that doesn’t work add the word Mart or Mart-uh to the end, and if that doesn’t work I always show them our card and it works every time. The hours of operation are from 9:00am-10:00am, Monday-Sunday, which means you can always find the time to load up on XL muffins on your calendar. Busanites and all other Korean locations need to beware of the 2 Sundays that Costco is required to be closed, which are the second and fourth Sundays of every month. We had the unfortunate experience of showing up to shop only to find a sad little sign stating that they will be closed on those days in order to comply with a new regulation. This new regulation will aim to revitalize markets and other small businesses, according to the article found here. [...]