Pyongyang Department Store No. 1

Pyongyang Department Store No. 1
Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 is located in Pyongyang
Pyongyang Department Store No. 1
Location in Pyongyang
General information
TypeDepartment store
AddressSungri Street
Coordinates39°1′20.14″N 125°45′11.42″E / 39.0222611°N 125.7531722°E / 39.0222611; 125.7531722
Completedc. late 1980s
Renovatedc. late 2000s - early 2010s[1]
OwnerPyongyang City People's Committee of the WPK
Design and construction
Architect(s)Yun Ko-gwang[2]
Other information
Public transit access   Chǒllima: Sŭngni Trolleybus: Sadong-No.1 Department Store
Paradise Department Store - taken from the first floor down towards the ground floor

The Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 (Korean: 평양제1백화점) is a major retail store in Pyongyang, North Korea. On Sungri Street near Kim Il-sung Square in downtown Pyongyang,[3] it is one of the largest retail stores in the country and is often the site of large commodity exhibitions.[4]

The store, along with two others, are reportedly run jointly with Chinese business partners.[5]

Shopping

The store offers a variety of items including electronics, clothing, furniture, foodstuffs,[6] kitchenware, and toys.[3] As of 2013, approximately 70 percent of the items in the store were produced domestically.[7] The store is also one of several official tourist stops in the city.[8] Department Store No. 1 accepts only local currency.[9][10] According to the pro-North-Korean newspaper Choson Sinbo, it is a popular shopping destination for local residents and in 2016 an average of 20,000 shoppers visited the store daily.[11]

Swedish journalist Caroline Salzinger [sv] described her visit to the department store as a tourist in the mid-2000s. Upon arrival, the store was closed.[12] One of the tour guides accompanying her tried to distract her, while the other one rushed in to get the doors opened. When opened, the guide had to scramble passers-by to occupy the store as "shoppers". The moment they stepped in, the escalator was started.[13] The shoppers appeared clueless as to how to act in a department store. When after great pains Salzinger managed to purchase the goods she wanted,[14] the cashier was confused and would not hand her a plastic bag for her items: "We look at each other in the eyes. She knows that something is wrong, and that not everything is like it should, but she does not know what it is."[15] According to Salzinger, a Western diplomat monitored the department store for one hour and saw no one come out with purchased items.[14]

Theodore Dalrymple visited in 1989. He described the Potemkin nature of the place: "I also followed a few people around at random, as discreetly as I could. Some were occupied in ceaselessly going up and down the escalators; others wandered from counter to counter, spending a few minutes at each before moving on. They did not inspect the merchandise; they moved as listlessly as illiterates might, condemned to spend the day among the shelves of a library. I did not know whether to laugh or explode with anger or weep. But I knew I was seeing one of the most extraordinary sights of the twentieth century."[16]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pyongyang Department Store.

References

  1. ^ Koryo Tours (2 April 2020). "Pyongyang Department Store No.1". Koryo Tours. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  2. ^ Choe Kwang (April 2014). "50-Year Devotion to Education". Democratic People's Republic of Korea. No. 700. p. 29. ISSN 1727-9208.
  3. ^ a b Hokkanen, Jouni (2013). "Pohjois-Korea: Matkailijan opas" [North Korea: Traveler's Guide]. Pohjois-Korea: Siperiasta itään [North Korea: East of Siberia] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Johnny Kniga. p. [10]. ISBN 978-951-0-39946-0.
  4. ^ "Commodity Exhibition Held at Pyongyang Department Store No. 1". Korean Central News Agency. December 6, 2012. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  5. ^ Jae Cheol Kim (Nov 1, 2006). "The Political Economy of Chinese Investment in North Korea". North Korean Economy Watch. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  6. ^ Pak Won Il (Feb 25, 2012). "North Koreans Experience The Marvels Of A Supermarket Firsthand". Business Insider. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  7. ^ Curtis Melvin (Feb 22, 2013). "North Korean products in department stores on the rise". North Korean Economy Watch. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  8. ^ "Kumgangsan Tour". Koryo Tour Group. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  9. ^ Lankov, Andrei (2014-05-28). "Money matters: The three-tiered system of 1980s North Korean currency | NK News". NK News. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  10. ^ York, Rob (2014-09-01). "Black market cash: The real value of N. Korean won | NK News". NK News. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  11. ^ "Report: North Korea department store gets 20,000 visits a day, offers delivery".
  12. ^ Salzinger 2008, p. 47.
  13. ^ Salzinger 2008, p. 48.
  14. ^ a b Salzinger 2008, p. 49.
  15. ^ Salzinger 2008, p. 50.
  16. ^ A. M. Daniels (1991). "North Korea". The wilder shores of Marx: journeys in a vanishing world. Hutchinson. p. 54. ISBN 009174153X. Retrieved 27 April 2020. I also followed a few people around at random, as discreetly as I could. Some were occupied in ceaselessly going up and down the escalators; others wandered from counter to counter, spending a few minutes at each before moving on. They did not inspect the merchandise; they moved as listlessly as illiterates might, condemned to spend the day among the shelves of a library. I did not know whether to laugh or explode with anger or weep. But I knew I was seeing one of the most extraordinary sights of the twentieth century.

Works cited

  • Salzinger, Caroline (2008). Terveisiä pahan akselilta: Arkea ja politiikkaa maailman suljetuimmissa valtioissa [Hälsningar från ondskans axelmakter: Vardag och vansinne i världens mest stängda länder] (in Finnish). Translated by Lempinen, Ulla. Jyväskylä: Atena. ISBN 978-951-796-521-7.