The shop is located at a five-way intersection in the commercial alley of Amsa-dong. The coffee prices are incredibly reasonable. A latte costs 3,000 won. That's a price that could buy two cups at other coffee shops.
The shop's sales strategy is high-volume, low-margin. The coffee cups are also disposable.
Two women and one man work busily. Almost all customers order via Naver before arriving. While the shop isn't exactly small, it doesn't really have a welcoming atmosphere for dine-in customers. As an outsider, I found it comfortable since there were no other customers inside, but the atmosphere felt a bit off.
A roaster sits in a corner of the shop. It's a large, gleaming machine. During my roughly 10-minute stay, takeout customers came in non-stop. I wondered if the man's role was roasting, as he wasn't visible, but I kept hearing rattling sounds from inside the storage room.
Coming down from the main road, I noticed that this area also seems to be undergoing redevelopment. If everything becomes apartments, will that area truly have value? Korea's urbanization rate is already said to exceed 90 percent. Cities are fraught with problems, yet we must find solutions within them. I wonder if public facilities and commercial areas will be at the heart of this. Many ideas and startups should emerge from places like this.
As I drove past, I glimpsed a phrase on a nearby church: "? is not done alone, but together." What could that '?' have been? Prayer, work, love, travel, dreams... or perhaps coffee.