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Red Door closing??
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Mikejelai



Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 3:06 am    Post subject: Red Door closing?? Reply with quote

I dropped by this eve (Sat.) and she was out of almost everything. The big refrigerator was empty/turned off, and over half of the shelves were gone.
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hogwonguy1979



Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: the racoon den

PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 3:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

if it is it's the end of an institution, then again given the other stores like the foreign food market, those other imported food markets up the alley behind taco bell, her days were numbered, surprised she lasted this long.

think she was there at least 25-30 years, when we first came to korea and lived outside of daejeon in the mid 90s we used to come up on weekends and buy her out. she was the only place to get anything western at the time

hope she has a nice retirement
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Swampfox10mm



Joined: 24 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 4:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

End of an era then.

She has too much competition but still had a few unique things. She was very old. Probably retiring.
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everydavid



Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Location: dans la lune

PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 8:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

She did have her time in Westerners life. Though I thought she was a bit rude. One time while looking at the stuff she had for sale in the freezer she told me to close the door, I did then walked out.
I too am surprised she lasted this long.
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radcon



Joined: 23 May 2011

PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I heard that USFK was starting to really crack down on black marketing. I wonder if this affected her.
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Swampfox10mm



Joined: 24 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

radcon wrote:
I heard that USFK was starting to really crack down on black marketing. I wonder if this affected her.


Laughing

The USFK has been cracking-down on black marketing for at least 7 years. I think she's probably just too old and throwing-in the towel.
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Gorf



Joined: 25 Jun 2011

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

High Street Market is better anyways.
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Adventurer



Joined: 28 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, it was easier walking around in that store than the foreign store. I like her store. I couldn't go there when I was in Itaewon. So she's closing shop?
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sojusucks



Joined: 31 May 2008

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe the Foreign Food Mart is putting her out of business. Her prices were too high. Yeah, she was rude at times. I would guess that she didn't exactly attend Harvard, if you know what I mean.
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Weigookin74



Joined: 26 Oct 2009

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just curious. How long has the foriegn food mart been around? Hope the USFK doesn't crack down too hard. Us "whiteys" need our fix from North America. lol (Though with Free Trade, it may get better. It has gotten better over the last few years to be sure.)
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Skippy



Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Daejeon

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Weigookin74 wrote:
Just curious. How long has the foriegn food mart been around? Hope the USFK doesn't crack down too hard. Us "whiteys" need our fix from North America. lol (Though with Free Trade, it may get better. It has gotten better over the last few years to be sure.)


It has been around from about 2001 for me.

Well she has more competition from Foreign Food Market to Happy Town (?). Even regular Korean places are getting more foreign products. Plus the USFK changes their ration card system and that often so getting products is harder.

Still I am surprised - she has always been nice and quick with a smile for me. True prices are a bit high and she charged a premium - yet she never held a gun to my head. All my choice to buy or not. Do people understand - Blackmarket usually means higher prices.

She will be missed.
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Adventurer



Joined: 28 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Weigookin74 wrote:
Just curious. How long has the foriegn food mart been around? Hope the USFK doesn't crack down too hard. Us "whiteys" need our fix from North America. lol (Though with Free Trade, it may get better. It has gotten better over the last few years to be sure.)



Well, with Costco expanding in Korea in the Seoul area and beyond and more products at the Foreign Mart and with her much higher prices, there is no way for her to compete, but I liked her goods. It was easier for me to find my stuff and get out. The Foreign Mart has too many people going through small aisles. The red door store was small, you could easily look around and take what you wanted fast enough without everyone bumping into you. I wish the foreign mart was bigger. It did expand a bit. They're making a ton of money. They added more Western products, more Indian products,and more Arabic products, added a new cash register, added an Arab (Palestinian or Lebanese?) employee to converse with the Arab clientele and don't just have South Asians there. I believe I saw more products also from other parts of Asia like Japan, Southeast Asia. I may have seen employees from other parts of Asia. The changes are interesting. It's probably better to go to the Foreign Mart very early during the day and preferably on a weekday. I'd have to explore it some more. I saw fresh looking nan bread, too. A friend bought some.
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hogwonguy1979



Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: the racoon den

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I always found her to be quite nice, one time i was looking for some super duper cold medicine or something and she didnt have it, she asks me in her very limited english for my phone number, a day or two later she calls me and says she has it.

its also a part of the "old" korea ill miss when living here was a real adventure and foreign goods were hard to find, the net cafe by kyobo bookstore was the only place to access the net and afkn was a treat for people who lived outside of seoul
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HELICIS



Joined: 15 Sep 2011
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There used to be several of those kinds of places in Koje-do that used to make a killing. Now they're dead or dying a slow death. Their strangle hold on foreign stuff has dried up.
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Adventurer



Joined: 28 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 6:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hogwonguy1979 wrote:
I always found her to be quite nice, one time i was looking for some super duper cold medicine or something and she didnt have it, she asks me in her very limited english for my phone number, a day or two later she calls me and says she has it.

its also a part of the "old" korea ill miss when living here was a real adventure and foreign goods were hard to find, the net cafe by kyobo bookstore was the only place to access the net and afkn was a treat for people who lived outside of seoul


She was nice enough to me. I enjoyed dealing with her. The fact that there are many more Western goods is good news for Westerners. It means it's easier to find something. I did watch AFKN. It was nice to watch.
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