Episode 48. Hometown of the Heart (3)
The merchants of Namseol Comprehensive Market met almost every day, holding meeting after meeting.
It wasn’t a small fire. It was such a big incident that the entire market was consumed by flames, so no clear solution emerged immediately, no matter how much they put their heads together.
Some places were insured, but there were also a few that weren’t.
In such cases, the methods of relief become even narrower.
“Haa.”
“Hoo…”
Deep sighs spilled out from everywhere like interjections.
The laundry owner and the butcher shop owner, who also served as the head of the merchant association, tried to encourage the merchants, saying, “Let’s work hard together!”
But a person’s heart is not easily changed by words.
Both of them knew that well.
Despite knowing this, they continuously raised the tension to somehow lighten the atmosphere.
“Alright, alright! I know everyone is having a hard time. But if we keep being depressed, won’t we just get more stressed? Right, hyung-nim?”
The laundry owner nodded his head.
“That’s right. We’ve all been through all sorts of things, protecting this market for decades. Seven or eight years ago, when a large supermarket was going to be built nearby, we all sighed, thinking we would starve. But do you remember how we rallied together and worked hard to attract more customers, saying, ‘Since it’s come to this, let’s work even harder’?”
They actively created and attracted various attractions and events that could only be found in the market, not in large supermarkets.
Thanks to this, Namseol Comprehensive Market established itself as a differentiated consumer market from other large supermarkets.
In fact, they even achieved the remarkable feat of increasing sales more than before the large supermarket opened.
As a result, Namseol Comprehensive Market was considered a model example for other regional markets, demonstrating the phrase “turning crisis into opportunity” through action.
Their ability to overcome crises was so special and extraordinary that it was even featured in local newspapers.
However.
Even the merchants who had created such miracles felt that this fire incident was a wall difficult to overcome.
“…”
The butcher shop owner also quickly ran out of words in the face of the heavily subdued atmosphere.
At this moment, the laundry owner stepped forward once again.
“It’s hard, yes. It is hard. For me, and for you all too. But sighing deeply here won’t solve anything, will it? Huh?”
What the laundry owner said was true.
If they just despair and do nothing, the situation will never improve.
As long as they are alive. And as long as they decide to keep living.
They must do something.
Anything is fine, they must at least struggle.
The laundry owner knew well that only then could they escape the swamp of despair.
Nevertheless, the merchants’ sense of futility did not easily recover.
As a heavy silence continued.
Suddenly, the door to the meeting room where they were gathered opened.
“Hello everyone!”
“We’re here!”
Kang Dae-oh and Oh Myung-woon, who were once members of this merchant association, appeared in the meeting room.
The laundry owner looked at the two with a surprised expression.
“How did you two get here…?”
“Because we used to gather and have meetings here too. Of course, we know the location.”
What Oh Myung-woon said was true.
Then as now. The meeting place for the merchant association had not changed.
Thanks to this, Kang Dae-oh and Oh Myung-woon were able to easily find where they were without difficulty.
They had a purpose for coming here.
“I heard you were having a meeting about the market’s reconstruction.”
Kang Dae-oh said, looking alternately at the butcher shop owner and the laundry owner to confirm the fact.
Then both of them nodded simultaneously.
“That’s right.”
“It’s unfortunate that the market burned down, but we can’t do nothing here.”
They were continuing meetings day by day, hoping that if many people put their heads together, good ideas might emerge.
But no matter how good an idea came up, it was useless unless the most necessary thing was met.
That was money.
To solve this problem.
Kang Dae-oh and Oh Myung-woon decided to step forward.
“Myung-woon and I will provide support. No, to be precise, it would be better to say ‘investment’.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Since it’s come to this, I was thinking, what if we completely redecorate Namseol Comprehensive Market and present it to people?”
“……?”
Towards the merchants who simultaneously tilted their heads, Kang Dae-oh, along with Oh Myung-woon, revealed their reconstruction plan for the first time.
Articles stating that Amare and Oh Myung-woon’s hair studio brand would fully support the Namseol Comprehensive Market reconstruction project were uploaded successively via the internet.
Thanks to the participation of the two large companies, the restoration of Namseol Comprehensive Market gained speed.
Furthermore, the merchants’ morale was also significantly higher than before.
Kang Dae-oh came out to the site and loudly shouted to the many company officials and merchants who had decided to participate in the reconstruction project.
“Alright, everyone! Let’s prepare diligently with the feeling that we’re completely remodeling Namseol Comprehensive Market this time! Understood?”
“Yes!”
“Thank you, Mr. Kang!”
“You saved us!”
Kang Dae-oh shook his head, humbly accepting the words of gratitude pouring towards him.
“No, I’m the one who’s grateful. I’ll make sure this street is soon packed with customers, so let’s work hard!”
Thanks to Kang Dae-oh shouting “Fighting!” once again, the merchants’ morale was able to rise once more.
In the meantime, Kang Dae-oh moved to a certain location.
While remodeling the entire Namseol Comprehensive Market, Kang Dae-oh also decided to establish an Amare branch here.
The location was the same building where Kang Dae-oh first opened his cafe.
However, since the building itself had burned down, they had to construct a completely new building.
From Kang Dae-oh’s perspective, it was actually a good thing.
“The original space was too small anyway. It wouldn’t be bad to greatly expand and build it this time.”
Lee Seojun, who came with Kang Dae-oh to inspect the Amare Namseol Comprehensive Market branch, nodded.
“The store was really small back then. You had to go all the way around to get to the bathroom.”
Kang Dae-oh gave a wry smile and said to Lee Seojun, who was expressing the difficulties of that time.
“I’m sorry. Because of a bad boss.”
“Oh, come on. Now, the CEO takes care of me a lot. And even back then, you gave me a generous hourly wage, so I had no complaints at the time.”
Inconvenience can be sufficiently covered by money.
At that time, thanks to Kang Yera, the cafe was doing so well that they were able to provide Lee Seojun with a sufficiently satisfactory hourly wage.
While recalling memories with Lee Seojun and savoring the past for a moment.
The laundry owner approached Kang Dae-oh.
“Mr. Kang.”
“Oh, boss. You should be at home, why did you come out?”
The laundry shop, located across from where they were standing, also began remodeling work.
Until then, there was no reason for the laundry owner to specifically come here.
He was also old. Having experienced a major disaster like the fire, Kang Dae-oh wished the laundry owner would rest sufficiently at home and recover his body and mind.
However, the laundry owner had no intention of doing so.
“Everyone else is working hard, so I can’t just sit idly at home. Is there anything I can help with?”
Kang Dae-oh gave a faint smile.
But telling the laundry owner that his help wasn’t needed and that he should just go home and rest didn’t seem right either.
“Then… would you like to check the laundry shop with me?”
“Shall we?”
The commercial building where the laundry shop was located was relatively in good condition.
The damage wasn’t severe enough to tear down the entire building and rebuild it.
Instead, there were many soot marks from the flames on various parts of the walls.
Now, thanks to the efforts of the remodeling company, it had improved a lot.
“Boss, you asked for it to be almost identical to the previous laundry shop, right?”
“That’s right.”
“You could change the interior this time, you know.”
“I prefer it to remain exactly as it was. To others, it might seem too old-fashioned, but for me, that’s the optimal working environment.”
Kang Dae-oh slowly nodded at the laundry owner’s words.
New things are not always better.
The laundry owner preferred familiarity.
Of course, the laundry shop as the owner remembered it would not be reproduced exactly.
But if he could face a laundry shop similar to the one he remembered.
The laundry owner would be sufficiently satisfied with just that.
To achieve this, Kang Dae-oh also planned to do his best.
While tearing down and rebuilding the market was good.
Nevertheless, the laundry owner still had a concern.
“Mr. Kang, you said earlier, didn’t you? That you’d fill this place with people again.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“To be honest, I’m worried. Because not long ago, the news was buzzing about the big fire here. And during the construction period, regular customers who used to visit Namseol Market will have no choice but to use nearby large supermarkets. These things will eventually lead to all our regular customers leaving…”
It was a concern about whether they could truly bring people back.
The laundry owner’s concern was entirely valid.
And in reality, many such cases exist.
“Honestly, I don’t care. Whether business goes well or not. I’m old anyway, and I was thinking of retiring next year. But… but you see.”
The laundry owner looked at the young merchants diligently helping with the work alongside the company officials who were pushing the construction.
“Those young friends aren’t like that, are they? They opened their shops here because they liked Namseol Market and wanted to work here. If you think about the dreams of those young friends… it might even become a burden for them to stay here.”
His honest feelings, which he couldn’t bring himself to say in the meeting room.
The laundry owner confided this to Kang Dae-oh for the first time.
Was this choice truly the right one?
No one could give him assurance regarding this.
However.
Kang Dae-oh could.
“It’s alright, boss. Do you think Myung-woon and I would have invested such a large sum here without thinking? We did it because we have a plan.”
“What plan?”
“First, we will let the public know that Namseol Comprehensive Market is undergoing a fresh renovation. Promotion is very important in this day and age.”
Greatly increasing inflow and gradually turning them into regular customers. This was Kang Dae-oh’s strategy.
“How on earth are you going to promote it…?”
“There’s a way.”
Kang Dae-oh took out his smartphone.
He turned on the screen and showed the laundry owner a photo he had set as his wallpaper.
“It just so happens that I know many gods of promotion.”
The identity of the photo on the wallpaper was none other than.
A family photo of Kang Dae-oh, Min Seung-yeon, and their three daughters.
