Jeju market falls short of 50 stores, but support was kept alive through an alley-type shopping district

[Financial News, Jeju = Reporter Jeong Yong-bok] A commercial district in downtown Jeju that was struggling to maintain the legal requirements for a traditional market because of falling store numbers has switched to the alley-type shopping district system, allowing policy support to continue. Traditional markets must have at least 50 stores to be recognized, but alley-type shopping districts can apply separate criteria that reflect local conditions, making them a new institutional outlet for declining markets.
According to Jeju City on the 29th, Ilu Yeondong Market, located in the area of 290-51 and 291-101 Yeondong, Jeju City, was recently newly designated as an alley-type shopping district and has also completed registration of its merchants' association. With this designation, the number of alley-type shopping districts in Jeju City has risen to 20.
Ilu Yeondong Market had operated as a conventional market, but continued store closures left it unable to meet the criteria for designation as a traditional market.
Under the current Enforcement Decree of the Special Act on the Promotion of Traditional Markets and Shopping Districts, a traditional market must have at least 50 wholesale, retail, or service stores to qualify. It must also meet other requirements, including standards for the land or building area used by the stores.
The commercial district itself has not disappeared, but once the number of stores falls below 50, it becomes difficult to remain under the traditional market system.
The alternative is the alley-type shopping district system. It was introduced to bring commercial districts with clusters of small stores into the scope of support under the Traditional Markets Act. Jeju Province ordinances set requirements such as at least 25 small business stores in commercial zones and at least 20 in non-commercial zones within an area of up to 2,000 square meters, along with the formation of a merchants' organization.
In other words, while the store-density threshold is lower than that for traditional markets, policy support remains available for commercial districts where business activity continues and the merchant community is still intact.
With this designation, Ilu Yeondong Market can once again access support programs. The merchants' association can resume efforts to register as an Onnuri Gift Certificate affiliate. It also now has a basis to apply for various commercial district revitalization projects run by central ministries, Jeju Island, and Jeju City.
The Onnuri Gift Certificate is a voucher that can be used at affiliated stores in designated commercial districts such as traditional markets and shopping districts. For consumers, it expands spending options, while merchants can expect more customer spending through the voucher system.
Projects that individual stores would find difficult to pursue, such as joint marketing and commercial district promotion, can also be carried out through the merchants' association.
This case is drawing attention because it did not link store declines directly to the end of policy support, but instead changed the district's institutional status to match its reduced scale. Even if it no longer meets the traditional market standard, support programs from the government and local governments can continue as long as the actual commercial district and merchant organization remain in place and the separate alley-type shopping district criteria are met.
However, designation as an alley-type shopping district does not by itself guarantee recovery. The key measures of success will be how much the number of Onnuri Gift Certificate affiliates grows, how many government and Jeju Island public contest projects are secured, and whether joint marketing and similar efforts actually lead to more visitors and higher sales.
"The significance lies in the fact that an existing market district has secured a new foundation for revitalization within a system suited to current conditions," said Jin Seong-pil, head of the Economic and Small Business Division at Jeju City. "We will expand Onnuri Gift Certificate affiliates and identify support projects tailored to the district's characteristics to strengthen the self-sustaining capacity of local commercial areas."


[email protected] Reporter Jeong Yong-bok Reporter