Nightlife spots pulling out the stops to stay afloat during economic downturn

Posted on : 2016-03-01 13:49 KST Modified on : 2016-03-01 13:49 KST
Gangnam room salons even selling cheap soju and offered more personalized service to keep customers coming
Gangnam room salons even selling cheap soju and offered more personalized service to keep customers coming
Gangnam room salons even selling cheap soju and offered more personalized service to keep customers coming

With economic sentiment worsening, nightlife establishments are taking desperate measures to attract clientele.

Soju, a cheap Korean alcohol, is appearing at “host bars,” which are staffed by male entertainers that rely on high-priced whiskey for their profits.

Meanwhile, “room salons” – bars in which guests are entertained in private rooms by attractive hostesses - are starting to provide regular customers with personalized services in a bid to keep them loyal.

At a host bar in the adult entertainment area of the Dongjak District of Seoul, the manager, surnamed Kang, recently put up an ad that says, “We sell soju, too.”

“Two months ago, we started selling soju for between 5,000 won and 7,000 won (US$4 and US$5.65) a bottle. We’ve always had more customers in the summer than the winter, but this winter, business has been unusually slow,” Kang told the Hankyoreh during a telephone interview on Feb. 25.

“When some room salons in Gangnam started selling whiskey at the 100,000 won per bottle range some time ago, we all got into a price war. We bit the bullet and started selling soju with the idea that we would make money on high turnover at low margins, but hardly anyone is drinking soju either,” Kang added.

Host bars, which also engage in prostitution, make money through service charges including a “room fee” that is calculated on an hourly basis. They have shifted their strategy for attracting customers, putting the priority on increasing clientele at all costs, even if that means selling soju, generally seen as more of an everyman’s drink.

Room salons in Gangnam and other areas that host corporate entertainment are seeking to bring in customers with a strategy of standing out from the crowd. Gangnam’s room salons had already gone deluxe during the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s, and over the past two years, more and more of them have begun offering membership service.

“We take care of our regular customers,” said a source at one room salon who preferred to remain anonymous. “For regulars who really want to feel at home, we’ll order dishes that we don’t normally sell and even name a room after them.” In the industry, this is called “private service.”

Regular bars are also employing a variety of strategies to survive the economic downturn.

Five or six years ago, the Gangnam nightlife scene was taken over by casual hookup spots known as “indoor tent bars.” More recently, though, the focus has shifted to craft beer pubs, some of which are offering a pint of premium draft – which normally goes for 6,000 or 7,000 won – for as low as 3,000 won.

By Choi Woo-ri, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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