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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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 Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 2:33 am Post subject: |
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| No beer at Emart? That is unthinkable. They have started to stock some good Euro beers at great prices. Soon we will be back to the dark days of being forced into drinking Korean beer. Someone needs to put an end to this madness! |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 2:59 am Post subject: |
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| It will hurt farmers and manufacturers as consumers will buy less of some of these products rather than suffer the inconvenience. |
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dairyairy
Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 3:10 am Post subject: |
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| sendittheemail wrote: |
| When you have two shops selling the same product, and the government comes in and tells one shop that they can no longer sell that product, they are essentially forcing the public to either stop buying the item, or to patronize the second shop. How this benefits the public is a mystery. Let's say that Emart cannot sell eggs anymore. What is to stop the mom and pops from rising the price of eggs by 400%? The government has effectively eliminated their competition. |
That's a very good point. Consumers would be at the mercy of those who've already proven that they care little about customer service and know little about keeping costs down by creating efficient supply lines. |
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joeteacher
Joined: 11 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 3:38 am Post subject: |
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| cj1976 wrote: |
| No beer at Emart? That is unthinkable. They have started to stock some good Euro beers at great prices. Soon we will be back to the dark days of being forced into drinking Korean beer. Someone needs to put an end to this madness! |
Oh dear God, you're right. Korea was finally importing some quality beers from Europe, Austrailia and the US. This could surely kill those efforts. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:34 am Post subject: |
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| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| mayorgc wrote: |
| I'd like to see someone here rationalize/defend this decision from an economic point of view. |
I'll bite. Historicly special preference was given to big business (chaebols) and they have become so big and powerful that they now dominate the Korean ecomony. Their expansion has often come at the expense of small business. Just take a walk outside and see how many businesses are Chaebol owned/operated/affiliated etc.
The government wants to right this past wrong and give preference to small business so that the Korean economy will become more diverse and not dominated by a few super wealthy families.
As a foreigner you or I may not like how they do it but I understand their logic behind it. It's also politically expedient. |
But this is not the way to do it.
They should instead make sure small and medium sized businesses have access to capital to grow their businesses, capital that is being soaked up by the chaebols. They should work to get companies now dependent on the chaebols better access to foreign markets so there is competition for the goods they manufacture so the prices they sell their goods at are not set by the chaebols. They should stop pricing collusion between large companies. They should also work to actually break up the chaebols.
But none of this is going to happen because the chaebols run this country. This we're protecting the mom and pop stores is just populist pandering which, unfortunately, the Korean public is very susceptible to. |
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Lazio
Joined: 15 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:47 am Post subject: |
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| joeteacher wrote: |
| cj1976 wrote: |
| No beer at Emart? That is unthinkable. They have started to stock some good Euro beers at great prices. Soon we will be back to the dark days of being forced into drinking Korean beer. Someone needs to put an end to this madness! |
Oh dear God, you're right. Korea was finally importing some quality beers from Europe, Austrailia and the US. This could surely kill those efforts. |
I�m pretty sure it is the domestic ones only. The imported ones would stay on the shelves. |
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Gnawbert
Joined: 23 Oct 2007
Location: The Internet
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:01 am Post subject: |
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This could be some article that The Onion rejected because it's too absurd.
Not that there are many mom and pop shops near me that stock anything worth shopping for, but I've stopped shopping at the few altogether. Now I'm wondering if there's someone in the Seoul government people could email to voice their opinion on the matter. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:13 am Post subject: |
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| sendittheemail wrote: |
| When you have two shops selling the same product, and the government comes in and tells one shop that they can no longer sell that product, they are essentially forcing the public to either stop buying the item, or to patronize the second shop. How this benefits the public is a mystery. Let's say that Emart cannot sell eggs anymore. What is to stop the mom and pops from rising the price of eggs by 400%? The government has effectively eliminated their competition. |
What makes you think this has anything to do with benefiting the public? I thought it had to do with declining familial support for the elderly and a government that is unwilling/unable to pick up the slack. |
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Los Angeloser
Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:31 am Post subject: |
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Here is an economic explanation - Mom 'n' Pop stores are known to evade taxes. Hint: how many of them have a cash register? I know of one store that installed one but probably only because it's next to a city office. Of course that doesn't mean it's used, but it sure does look good.
There, does that explain things? It's better to support non-tax paying businesses than those that actually do pay up.
S. Korea has a "Progressive Mayor of Seoul Labelled as �Pro-North Korean'." Google it or go to Koreabang, the Hankyoreh says"�Blind follower� accusations going further than �Park Won-soon is a Commie�� Why? Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has, against his wishes, once again emerged at the heart of the �jongpuk dispute�." |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| mayorgc wrote: |
| I'd like to see someone here rationalize/defend this decision from an economic point of view. |
I'll bite. Historicly special preference was given to big business (chaebols) and they have become so big and powerful that they now dominate the Korean ecomony. Their expansion has often come at the expense of small business. Just take a walk outside and see how many businesses are Chaebol owned/operated/affiliated etc.
The government wants to right this past wrong and give preference to small business so that the Korean economy will become more diverse and not dominated by a few super wealthy families.
As a foreigner you or I may not like how they do it but I understand their logic behind it. It's also politically expedient. |
If small companies want to succeed they have to be more competitive. Often, they do the bare minimum and don't try to outcompete each other. It is very different from Canada. Small businesses here either run it on subsistence or treat it like a cash cow and take most of the money out of the business. There is often a mentality of make as much money as possible and then close it up after a couple of years. There is a lack of choice and every small shop sells the same inferior quality of goods. It's almost like they're in collusion or something. I don't know if this is because of government rules, bureacracy, or tax penalties preventing them from buying anything foriegn or of decent quality or just sticking to old traditional business practices here. There often is not a mindset of borrowing money to expand and take on more product lines. In a market where many Koreans have gone abroad and developed many tastes, many local businesses could do better to cater to this. Small businesses in Canada specialize because they can't compete with Wal Mart.
I'd say make it easier for smaller Korean businesses to buy product and inventory from where ever they want and whom ever they want. Also, restricting Costco which helps small business makes no sense to me. (Closing on Sundays.) They could compete more, expand and offer more products and services. However, zoning, long time to have decisions made or approved, and other red tape makes it difficult for a small business to operate or compete.
My biggest gripe are these so called "health clubs" which are overpriced with tiny rooms and lots of outdated equipment that you could buy at Sears for 199 bucks and no heating turned on in winter or air conditioning turned on in summer. The owners are there all day and all night six days a week and closed on Sunday.
My western mind would be to get a decent space (maybe 2 or 3 floors), get the building owner to put insulation in the building and thick double windows so it doesn't cost me so much to use heat or air con. Then I would import the best and highest quality equipment if the Korean made didn't meet my standards. I would have two or three sets of free weights (not just one as some cheap gyms do here). I would install rubber flooring and tell people they can wear their shoes where ever they please. I would have great eliptical, other cardio equipment, and stretching equipment with larger stretching equipment. Also, I would hire employees and keep it open late and early 7 days a week instead of doing it all my self. By stressing quality and standards, I would grow my business. But it seems most of these places try to do the same low quality overpriced thing and not compete too much with each other.
This is why consumers gravitate towards the larger businesses the few that do exist. (There is one large gym in my regional city that is somewhat run better and closer to a western model which has many people.)
Sorry, Monday morning rant on small business in general. |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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wut
I just stopped going to one of my locals because everything I bought on a Sunday was off. Packaged chicken breasts (expiration date checked out) that were old and going off, old soft broccoli, old and browning red cabbage. I can handle the occasional off veggie or something but I basically gave them 10 bucks for a trash bag.
This is getting ridiculous. Also, it's kind of BS that Costco is getting lumped in as it charges a membership fee.
I'm all for supporting the little guy but the little guy needs to have something worth supporting. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| mayorgc wrote: |
| I'd like to see someone here rationalize/defend this decision from an economic point of view. |
I'll bite. Historicly special preference was given to big business (chaebols) and they have become so big and powerful that they now dominate the Korean ecomony. Their expansion has often come at the expense of small business. Just take a walk outside and see how many businesses are Chaebol owned/operated/affiliated etc.
The government wants to right this past wrong and give preference to small business so that the Korean economy will become more diverse and not dominated by a few super wealthy families.
As a foreigner you or I may not like how they do it but I understand their logic behind it. It's also politically expedient. |
If small companies want to succeed they have to be more competitive. Often, they do the bare minimum and don't try to outcompete each other. It is very different from Canada. Small businesses here either run it on subsistence or treat it like a cash cow and take most of the money out of the business. There is often a mentality of make as much money as possible and then close it up after a couple of years. There is a lack of choice and every small shop sells the same inferior quality of goods. It's almost like they're in collusion or something. I don't know if this is because of government rules, bureacracy, or tax penalties preventing them from buying anything foriegn or of decent quality or just sticking to old traditional business practices here. There often is not a mindset of borrowing money to expand and take on more product lines. In a market where many Koreans have gone abroad and developed many tastes, many local businesses could do better to cater to this. Small businesses in Canada specialize because they can't compete with Wal Mart.
I'd say make it easier for smaller Korean businesses to buy product and inventory from where ever they want and whom ever they want. Also, restricting Costco which helps small business makes no sense to me. (Closing on Sundays.) They could compete more, expand and offer more products and services. However, zoning, long time to have decisions made or approved, and other red tape makes it difficult for a small business to operate or compete.
My biggest gripe are these so called "health clubs" which are overpriced with tiny rooms and lots of outdated equipment that you could buy at Sears for 199 bucks and no heating turned on in winter or air conditioning turned on in summer. The owners are there all day and all night six days a week and closed on Sunday.
My western mind would be to get a decent space (maybe 2 or 3 floors), get the building owner to put insulation in the building and thick double windows so it doesn't cost me so much to use heat or air con. Then I would import the best and highest quality equipment if the Korean made didn't meet my standards. I would have two or three sets of free weights (not just one as some cheap gyms do here). I would install rubber flooring and tell people they can wear their shoes where ever they please. I would have great eliptical, other cardio equipment, and stretching equipment with larger stretching equipment. Also, I would hire employees and keep it open late and early 7 days a week instead of doing it all my self. By stressing quality and standards, I would grow my business. But it seems most of these places try to do the same low quality overpriced thing and not compete too much with each other.
This is why consumers gravitate towards the larger businesses the few that do exist. (There is one large gym in my regional city that is somewhat run better and closer to a western model which has many people.)
Sorry, Monday morning rant on small business in general. |
Excellent point. There's also the matter of trust. Consumers don't trust these small, often fly-by-night shops.
What's next? Shinsegae can't sell socks? You have to buy the knock-offs from the guy on the street corner? |
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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:36 am Post subject: |
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| mayorgc wrote: |
| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| mayorgc wrote: |
| I'd like to see someone here rationalize/defend this decision from an economic point of view. |
I'll bite. Historicly special preference was given to big business (chaebols) and they have become so big and powerful that they now dominate the Korean ecomony. Their expansion has often come at the expense of small business. Just take a walk outside and see how many businesses are Chaebol owned/operated/affiliated etc.
The government wants to right this past wrong and give preference to small business so that the Korean economy will become more diverse and not dominated by a few super wealthy families.
As a foreigner you or I may not like how they do it but I understand their logic behind it. It's also politically expedient. |
Not an argument, but a question.
By handicapping the super-marts, how does that create a more diverse economy? |
I meant a more diverse number of people sharing the pie. The government doesn't want to see monopoly control of the food market by a very small group of people. |
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Kuval
Joined: 19 Aug 2012
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:08 am Post subject: |
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| Dodge7 wrote: |
Hmm. Let me get this straight. So the government cares so much about the mom and pops stores but sticks a middle finger up to the citizens because now they would have to make another stop at a different store to complete their shopping making it terribly inconvenient to their already busy schedule. Does this make any sense to you? You'd swear the mom and pops were paying off these crazy politicians in outdated ice cream and snacks (you know the kind of places I'm talking about). It's like the government is treating smaller business like little children and protecting them from the big bad wolves disguised at Lotte Mart and Costco. So bizarre.
This country is so backwards sometimes. |
Soju is a buck a bottle in every convenience store. If you don't live within easy accessibility of a convenience store, then you're so rich that this isn't an issue (in fact, you probably pay someone else to do your shopping).
The eggs and tofu is a bit wild... but whatever. Let's make cheating on your wife illegal, and then outlaw Emart tofu. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:19 am Post subject: |
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| Kuval wrote: |
| Dodge7 wrote: |
Hmm. Let me get this straight. So the government cares so much about the mom and pops stores but sticks a middle finger up to the citizens because now they would have to make another stop at a different store to complete their shopping making it terribly inconvenient to their already busy schedule. Does this make any sense to you? You'd swear the mom and pops were paying off these crazy politicians in outdated ice cream and snacks (you know the kind of places I'm talking about). It's like the government is treating smaller business like little children and protecting them from the big bad wolves disguised at Lotte Mart and Costco. So bizarre.
This country is so backwards sometimes. |
Soju is a buck a bottle in every convenience store. If you don't live within easy accessibility of a convenience store, then you're so rich that this isn't an issue (in fact, you probably pay someone else to do your shopping).
The eggs and tofu is a bit wild... but whatever. Let's make cheating on your wife illegal, and then outlaw Emart tofu. |
Adultery is already a crime in Korea. |
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