By Jang Seong-hyun (voluntary activist)
While self-employed businesses are rapidly dwindling, big franchise brands have grown substantially in recent years. Under the current situation in which running a business with small mom and pop stores became extremely difficult, I have conducted research on the number of coffee and bakery branches of big franchise brands. (Research period: December 12)
The coffee brands that have been investigated include Starbucks, Caffebene, Pascucci, Angel-in-us and Tom N Toms. The number of branches these six brands have in Seoul amount to 1100. Starbucks and Caffebene have around 250 branches, which is the highest number among all. Other brands have approximately 100 branches.
구 스타벅스 카페베네 파스쿠찌 커피빈 엔제리너스 탐앤탐스 총계 강남구 45 41 26 57 22 42 233 강동구 3 9 1 4 6 5 28 강북구 2 4 1 1 3 2 13 강서구 4 12 2 1 8 2 29 관악구 4 9 1 1 6 4 25 광진구 6 14 3 2 8 6 39 구로구 7 5 3 3 4 2 24 금천구 5 2 1 3 4 1 16 노원구 3 9 1 1 2 5 21 도봉구 0 3 0 0 1 2 6 동대문구 4 9 4 2 7 2 28 동작구 3 6 4 1 1 3 18 마포구 11 14 3 7 10 6 51 서대문구 14 12 3 6 3 4 42 서초구 26 26 10 22 5 17 106 성동구 3 3 1 1 3 3 14 성북구 6 6 0 1 22 2 37 송파구 9 18 6 6 14 11 64 양천구 4 7 4 2 1 1 19 영등포구 16 9 10 9 12 7 63 용산구 9 6 1 4 3 4 27 은평구 3 3 1 0 3 1 11 종로구 24 19 7 14 2 6 72 중구 31 17 10 18 10 10 96 중랑구 2 6 0 0 1 3 12 총 계 244 269 103 166 161 151 1094
For coffee branches, all brands in common have their branches concentrated in Gangnam district and central Seoul, which are business areas. The number of the branches located in the Gangnam district (Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa) and central Seoul (Jongro-gu, Jung-gu) is 571, which exceeds the half of the entire number of branches in Seoul. In comparison, there is no brand that has more than 5 branches in suburban districts such as Eunpyeong, Gangbuk and Nowon. Considering the fact that coffee had gone beyond a favorite-food and became a cultural code that only limited people with a certain level of spending power can purchase, the distribution of franchise coffee branches can be an indicator that reveals a gap between the rich and poor.
구 파리 바게뜨 뚜레 주르 크라운 베이커리 신세계 svn 총계 데이앤 데이 달로 와요 밀크앤 허니 더 메나쥬리 베키아 네 누보 패이 야드 신세계 총계 강남구 68 13 2 1 1 1 1 3 7 90 강동구 34 16 1 2 2 53 강북구 19 10 0 0 29 강서구 31 19 1 2 2 53 관악구 35 10 0 0 45 광진구 25 11 0 1 1 37 구로구 30 19 1 1 1 51 금천구 24 5 1 0 30 노원구 36 15 1 1 1 53 도봉구 21 10 1 1 1 33 동대문구 28 12 0 1 1 41 동작구 29 11 0 0 40 마포구 33 16 0 1 1 50 서대문구 30 11 0 0 41 서초구 48 11 3 1 1 1 3 65 성동구 24 11 0 2 2 37 성북구 31 17 1 1 1 2 51 송파구 50 17 1 1 1 69 양천구 35 12 0 2 2 49 영등포구 33 15 3 2 1 1 4 55 용산구 25 6 0 1 1 32 은평구 30 13 0 2 2 45 종로구 17 11 3 0 31 중구 33 13 0 1 1 1 1 4 50 중랑구 18 4 0 2 2 24 총 계 787 308 19 20 4 9 1 5 1 40 1154
In comparison, bakeries have less unequal distribution among regions since bread is not affected by whether it is residential area or business district. However, the oligopoly of certain brands are even severe. Paris Baguette has 800 branches in Seoul while Tous les Jours, the nation's No. 2 bakery chain, has less than half, which is 300.
Shinsegae SVN has consistency expanded its business by segmenting its bakery brand into 6 different brands such as dayandday and Dalloyau even when there was a huge dispute over bakeries owned by conglomerates. The number of stores owned by Shinsegae in Seoul is 40 which is even higher than that of Crown Bakery, which has been in business since 1988. Moreover, Shinsegae is expanding its business by establishing stores inside E-mart which also belongs to Shinsegae, a retail conglomerate.
After the introduction of "Tongkeun Chicken", the regulation on big franchises and preservation of small retailers became an issue in our society. Concerning this issue, big franchises have expressed opposition to anti-market policies that restricts the free market competition. However, a fair competition cannot be present under the current situation in which big franchises and conglomerates compete with small retailers with their high brand awareness and financial abilities.
Before the big franchises and conglomerates entered into the areas of mom-and-pop stores, local retailers formed a commercial power which prevented from the wealth being concentrated to the center and evenly distributed the benefits of stimulated economy. However, under the current circumstances in which the big franchises are dominating the market, mom-and-pop stores and the local economy are rapidly declining as the wealth in the region is concentrated in the center through franchise branches instead of local retailers. In this case, the government should be actively involved in protecting small retailers through regulation on big franchises. It is because only this can guarantee a healthy economic structure where the benefits are equally distributed to every citizen in Korea.