Do you Know O-GOGAGE Youth mall in Andong?
Have you ever seen or heard about the O-GOGAGE Youth mall in Andong? If I did not get an assignment from a professor, I would have never known it. I think O- GOGAGE has complex problems.
The youth mall is one of the policies which the government has pushed strongly to raise youth employment. The youth mall is a space where over 20 stores use the outdated and vacant traditional market. The store owners are under the age of 39. The youth mall owners receive subsidies like renovation support, water bills, rent, education and so on.
Owners open a store with promising expectations but unluckily they cannot always succeed. I think O-GOGAGE is one of the most unpopular youth malls among citizens and tourists, although they deserve to be popular. For O-GOGAGE, I am going to analyze why they are not popular.
1. Inexact identity
Analyzing other successful Youth malls, they have a specific brand. To name or make a concept, they use their special products or trend or features of a city. For example, there is a 서울-훼미리(Seoul-Family)in Seoul. The concept is Newtro. Newtro means New + Retro. So, families and couples can enjoy the area by sharing their memories together
2. Different opening time
Though tourists go to a store, if it closes, people will feel disappointed. O-GOGAGE does not have the same opening time. Some stores open at 10am, other stores open at 1pm. So, people who want to enjoy everything and travelers from long distance will be disappointed.
3. Typical promotions
Reviewing reports about O-GOGAGE, I think promotion methods are too common. The ways are through leaflets, social media, and tour packages. One of the Strengths of youth malls is creativity. By using their creativity, they can come up with new promotion methods.
4. Shortage of cultural visual attractions
Successful youth-malls are not just stores. They are cultural places. For example, the Miro Market in the city of Wonju looks like a maze. Because it is constructed a long time ago, so the structure has not been organized well. That is why they named the market as Miro. Miro means maze in Korean. Perhaps unorganized structures would be a weakness, but they have used the weakness to their advantage by positioning a lot of art in each corridor. Eventually it becomes the culture and people try to find the art by exploring the maze. If the owners add visual attractions in the youth mall, people come to the market to enjoy not only restaurants but also other visual attractions
This may not be an exact solution. This article might make O-GOGAGE owners feel annoyed, and I might look like an irresponsible person. But I hope the O-GOGAGE market becomes popular.
김찬종(식품영양)
