Costco's upcoming store in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province — a landmark investment achievement under the 8th popular election term and the first of its kind in the Gwangju and South Jeolla region — is drawing attention as a sustainable coexistence model with local small merchants.
When the Costco Suncheon store opens, more than 13 million annual visitors from areas including Gwangju, South Gyeongsang Province, and Jeju are expected to flow into the city, and roughly 250 quality jobs are projected to be created. In response, the Suncheon city government plans to concentrate its administrative resources on establishing a sustainable coexistence foundation for local small merchants and neighborhood commercial districts as a core task.
"We are comprehensively pursuing regional commercial impact analysis, gathering opinions from small merchants, and identifying coexistence and cooperation tasks so that the Costco opening does not end as the mere attraction of a large-scale retail facility," an official from Suncheon city's Economic Promotion Division said Monday. "In particular, we are objectively analyzing the impact on sectors where damage is feared, such as traditional markets, supermarkets, food ingredient marts, and neighborhood commercial districts, and we are focusing all our efforts on practical response measures tailored to local conditions."
Suncheon city has been in ongoing communication with local small merchant groups, including the Federation of Micro Enterprises and the Eastern Jeonnam Supermarket Cooperative, listening to on-site opinions regarding the entry of the large-scale store. In November last year, the city met with the board of the Eastern Jeonnam Supermarket Cooperative to share the progress of the Costco opening and reached a consensus that the cooperative would actively participate in discussions on coexistence measures.
To this end, Suncheon city has completed a contract for a "research service on coexistence and cooperation measures in response to large-scale store entry," which is currently underway. The study focuses on analyzing the impact of the Costco Suncheon opening on the local commercial district and preparing coexistence and cooperation measures with small merchants, traditional markets, and small and medium-sized distributors.
In particular, considering the local election schedule and the opening of the Suncheon City Council, the city plans to form the "Suncheon Regional Coexistence Council" in July, after the council convenes. The council will be organized as a public-private consultative body including the administration, small merchants, small and medium-sized distributors, traditional markets, merchant associations, consumer groups, experts, and city council members.
The plan is to establish a "Suncheon-style coexistence model" that reflects on-site opinions from small merchants, traditional markets, and small and medium-sized distributors, rather than unilateral measures led by the administration.
Above all, the focus is on identifying coexistence tasks that have real negotiating potential and executability, rather than simple cash-based support. The city plans to flesh out tasks that can be negotiated with Costco — including local talent hiring, local company participation in services, deposits with local financial institutions, expanded sales channels for local products, and cooperative projects with local small merchants — and to use the research results as consultation materials for Costco's regional cooperation plan.
Meanwhile, Suncheon city has been making extensive efforts to attract a complex shopping mall, the region's long-standing top priority project, under the 8th popular election term. Learning from a previous failed attempt, the city carried out a detailed attraction strategy through close communication with Costco, an effort that is now seen as having borne fruit.
