Ahead of the Seoul International Fireworks Festival at Yeouido Hangang Park on the afternoon of the 5th, retailers have launched an all-out push to boost sales. The International Fireworks Festival has lit up the Yeouido sky every fall since 2000. More than 100,000 shells are launched during the festival, and the cost of fireworks alone exceeds 10 billion won. More than 1 million spectators flock each year to watch the dazzling display.
According to related industries, convenience stores as well as department stores, shopping malls, and coffee shops around Yeouido have drawn up measures to secure inventory and manage safety to meet spectator demand. Convenience stores CU, GS25, Seven-Eleven, and E-MART 24 have greatly expanded supplies of bottled water, beer, ready-to-eat meals, ice cups, picnic mats, and portable batteries. To prepare for crowds arriving at once, they will install additional refrigeration equipment and POS terminals and dispatch support staff from headquarters to the sites.
GS25, operated by GS Retail(007070), has secured up to 100 times the usual inventory at stores around Yeouido. Key items include not only beer, bottled water, and ice cups, but also instant-cooked foods such as Go Pizza and Chicken25, along with picnic mats and portable chargers. The company also plans to run a cotton candy machine at a store near Nodeul Station, close to the festival site.
Seven-Eleven increased orders for ice cups, pouch drinks, smoothies, and beer by 20 times the usual level and secured large quantities of ramen and instant foods. CU of BGF Retail(282330) will pitch tents outside stores and install additional refrigerators. The tents will be used as spaces for convenience store customers at crowded sites.
Among convenience stores in the Yeouido area, the fireworks festival is known as the "biggest sales day of the year." During last year's festival, GS25 stores in Yeouido saw sales jump by up to 850% compared with the same day of the previous week, and some stores recorded one-hour afternoon sales exceeding their daily average. At CU's Yeouido Hangang Park store, the number of customers increased 100-fold from the prior week during the same period. E-MART 24 and Seven-Eleven also saw sales rise to their highest levels of the year for the event.
This year, the items the industry is most focused on stocking are summer products such as beer, bottled water, and ice cups. Hanwha, the event planner, has scheduled the fireworks for late September each year, when the heat eases, but this year the schedule was moved up by about three weeks because it overlaps with the Chuseok holiday. Ice water is essential for early autumn outdoor activities while the heat still lingers.
Thanks to the hot weather, store owners are pleased. An industry official said, "The hotter it gets, the greater the demand for drinks and food, so overall sales are expected to increase compared with last year." When the event was held in late September last year, hand warmers and other heating items reportedly sold well.
The Food Hall at department store The Hyundai Seoul has organized a takeout food event. More safety personnel will be deployed than on a typical weekend. IFC Mall will also strengthen safety management along customer routes on the day of the event. Café chains are rolling out "prime spot" marketing. Starbucks' Yeouido Hangang branch will accept only "package" customers with advance seat reservations after 6 p.m. that day. The package price is quite high at 200,000–300,000 won for two people for 3 hours 30 minutes, but it sold out in 30 seconds after sales began on Aug. 25.
However, from 1 p.m., it will likely be difficult to use delivery apps in Yeouido and along the Han River. The reason is crowd density at the festival and traffic controls on nearby roads. Baemin said it will monitor on-site traffic congestion and foot traffic in real time from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and restrict orders such as regular food delivery and grocery shopping. The company plans to gradually lift the restrictions after 10 p.m., when the event ends. Areas along the Han, including Yeouido-dong in Yeongdeungpo District as well as Mapo District, Yongsan District, and Dongjak District, will be affected.
Coupang Eats also announced it may temporarily suspend delivery and takeout orders for stores in the Yeouido Hangang Park area during the main event. Yogiyo will also halt delivery orders in parts of Yeouido before and after festival hours.
An industry official said, "The fireworks festival is not just a Yeouido event; commercial districts along the Han where the fireworks are visible—Mangwon, Seonyudo, Ichon, Banpo, and Apgujeong—are all within its impact zone," adding, "On the day of the event, all riverside stores will treat it as one of the most important business days of the year and concentrate inventory and staffing." The fireworks festival runs from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. The show will feature displays in order from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Korea starting at 8 p.m. The Korea team will present the finale for about 30 minutes from 8:40 p.m.