Popular art neighborhood turning into more high-end district

Interior construction work was being done Nov. 18 at Caffe Bene`s branch in Hongdae (Hongdae is the short name for Hongik University) near the entrance to the school in Seoul’s Mapo district. A banner hanging on the exterior wall said a new restaurant would open at the site.

A Coffee Bean branch some 80 meters away from the site was also closed and undergoing construction to make way for a franchise restaurant that will open next month.

Starbucks` Hongdae branch on the main street leading to the university’s main gate from Hongik University subway station is also set for closure after Tuesday. Opened in 2002, the coffee shop had been a symbol of the Hongdae commercial district.

Replacing the Starbucks branch will be H&M, a sale and purchase agreement clothing brand. The new store will be a large facility to occupy all four floors of the building, not just the first floor that Starbucks had used.

The stores of large coffee shop franchises are disappearing around the popular entertainment district. They had set up shop in the area after driving out smaller cafes with unique characteristics that had been dotting the district. Now, these major coffee chains have been making way for other businesses.

In the past, streets in the neighborhood had been filled with small cafes full of the "Hongdae spirit," represented by free and unique personalities. Displaying works by art majors and stocking art books, such places used to be hangouts for many artists as well as ordinary people.

As large coffee shops began moving into the area, including Starbucks and Caffe Bene, however, the smaller cafes were forced out due to soaring rents.

Analysts say the transformation of Hongdae is similar to that of Garosu-gil, which means "street tree road" in Korean, in southern Seoul`s Shinsa-dong neighborhood several years ago. An area undergoes the same process in which privately owned cafes and restaurants grow popular through word of mouth before making way for branches of large coffee shop chains.

In turn, the coffee branches are replaced by major fashion stores due to skyrocketing rent. Alleys along Garosu-gil are called “Serosu-gil,” as the former is filled with cafes and restaurants that had been forced out from the main street.

Hongdae also has Uniqlo, which was the first store of its kind to open near the university`s main gate in 2009; Zara, which emerged last year; the Gap, which debuted as a large-size store in February; and the Korean clothier Top Ten, which opened last month. An H&M store will also open in the area early next year, while 8Seconds, a domestic brand, is also looking to start a branch there. As such, nearly all major clothing brands are set to open stores in the district.

More pharmacies are also opening in Hongdae. Shinsegae Boons recently opened a store near the university’s main gate, while the drugstore unit of Caffe Bene will also open a store near the subway station Dec. 24.

The owner of a café on Café Street in Hongdae said, “Hongdae culture can no longer be found in the Hongdae district. I regret that the area is turning into a district with the same (commercial) mood as Myeongdong and Gangnam.”

baron@donga.com