Centuries-old Namdaemun Market suddenly a go-to spot for young shoppers 

Entering Namdaemun Market in central Seoul, visitors find a jumble of stalls packed tight with bric-a-brac, their counters worn and fixtures dated. The market traces its roots all the way back to 1414, during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), and at first glance, it looks far removed from anything young or trendy.

Look closer, though, and the crowd tells a different story. Shoppers in their 20s and 30s now weave through the same stalls, picking out flowers, bath supplies and jewelry — everyday items that have turned this centuries-old market into an unlikely destination for Seoul's younger generation.

“This is the exact one I saw on Instagram!” said an office worker in her early 30s surnamed Kim, holding up a plastic gua sha (traditional health practice of scraping muscles) tool and running it along her forearm.

“How much is this?” her friend Jeong asked a vendor, pointing at a comb wedged between rows of multicolored towels.

“That one's 15,000 won [$11],” the vendor replied. “You'll find a 12,000-won version elsewhere. That's a knockoff.”

Not long ago, this same maze of stalls belonged to a different generation. Older women haggled here over bath towels and kitchenware, elbow to elbow in the narrow aisles. Twenty- and 30-somethings now have their phones out, holding up colorful scrub towels and German combs to compare them with what they saw online the night before.

Sauna boom drives younger consumers

Things started changing a few months ago, vendors say — though exactly when depends on who's telling it.

“Young customers started coming in noticeably large numbers about two to three months ago,” said Ryu, a bath goods vendor.

Elsewhere in the market, Kim Yoon-ok, the owner of a jade shop in the jewelry section, traces it further back.

“Young customers started flooding in after the Lunar New Year holiday,” she said, “and traffic is far higher than it was around this time last year.”

Whenever it began, much of that energy traces back to a broader trend: a sauna boom among young Koreans. Bathhouse visits by people in their 20s rose 26.5 percent this January through March from the same period last year, according to Shinhan Card's big data center. Visits by those in their 30s rose 9.8 percent.

The online chatter about the market reflects the buzz. Blog posts mentioning Namdaemun Market hit 48,432 in the first half of the year, a 14 percent jump from the same period last year, according to Sometrend, a social media analytics platform. Instagram mentions reached 14,858, up 8 percent.

“Namdaemun itself has become a trending topic,” said Hwang, a shopper in her mid-20s. “Many posts are calling it a hot spot, so I decided to come in and check out some bath items.”

Within a 150-meter (492-foot) radius centered on the market, kitchen and household goods stores averaged roughly 1.6 billion won in monthly sales this April through June, according to Small Business 365 (translated), a commercial data platform run by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Flower shops in the same radius averaged about 12.5 million won a month in sales per store over the same period, and watch and jewelry stores averaged about 10.8 million won per store.

'Why come here when Daiso is cheaper?'

Namdaemun's prices aren't always the market's biggest draw. Daiso, the ubiquitous discount chain, often sells similar items for less, and without the trip downtown. Young shoppers said that was beside the point.

Kim and Jeong, the two office workers browsing the bath supplies stalls, had withdrawn 100,000 won in cash before heading to the market. They planned to head straight to a sauna once they finished shopping.

“Even though Daiso sells similar items, the reason I came here specifically is to browse in person,” Kim said. “The variety is much wider, and the experience of browsing itself is enjoyable.”

“These items are different from what Daiso sells,” said Ryu, the vendor at their stall. “Daiso doesn't carry this range of towels, German combs and the rest, so there's no real comparison.”

Daiso's largest store in eastern Seoul, located in Sangbong, in the city's Jungnang District, carries about 10 variations of scrub towels. But the shapes stop at rectangles and mitts, the colors at green, pink and yellow. Namdaemun goes further: shower towels printed with elephants, ribbons and bicycles, and even shower caps dotted like confetti.

Walk from one stall to the next and the lineup changes completely, which is the appeal. That's the trick Daiso can't replicate. Its shelves look identical from one branch to the next, but no two stalls at Namdaemun do.

Gua sha tools and sauna caps, items Daiso doesn't even carry, are Ryu's top sellers these days, she said, as more young customers stop by her shop on their way to or from the bathhouse. Her customers shop carefully rather than stock up.

“Young customers compare prices everywhere,” she said. “Even a 100 won difference will send them to a cheaper shop. Some spend as much as 50,000 won, others as little as 10,000.”

Lee Min-young, 25, a university student browsing the same aisle, said her budget for a single item is modest.

“For something like a gua sha, anything over 5,000 won starts to feel pricey,” she said.

She hadn't planned to buy anything specific.

“Since Namdaemun is such a hot topic these days, I just came to look around and see if there's anything worth buying.”

Haggling is part of the draw, not a barrier

For a generation raised on app-based, contactless shopping, the face-to-face friction of a traditional market might seem like a deterrent. Interviews suggest the opposite: Many young shoppers said the haggling and direct interaction were part of what drew them to Namdaemun in the first place.

“I prefer coming in person specifically for the experience of dealing directly with a person,” Hwang said. “Even haggling is part of the experience.”

Lee said she actually expects some back-and-forth when shopping at a traditional market, and prefers it to buying sight unseen.

“There can be a real difference between what you see in person and what you see online,” she said. “Photos and product descriptions often don't match what you actually receive.”

In the market's flower section, a florist who goes by Kim said her younger customers haggle just as often as anyone else.

“Young people haggle a lot too,” she said. “Since flowers are all similar and prices are similar from shop to shop, they prioritize quality and prettiness over price. But they do ask for discounts.”

An office worker in his late 20s who traveled to Seoul from the provinces said he shops regularly on AliExpress, Temu and Shein, but sees Namdaemun as serving a different purpose.

“Those platforms are good for bargains,” he said, “but the market offers a wide variety of items I can inspect in person before buying.”

New customers represent growth, not displacement

Vendors across the market said the rise in young shoppers hasn't come at the expense of older customers.

“It's not just young people. Older customers come too,” Kim Yoon-ok said of her jewelry shop. “Young people look for the cheaper rings, while older customers go for the pricier items in the display case: necklaces, earrings and the rest.”

Ryu said the same holds at her bath supplies stall.

“Young customers started coming in noticeably large numbers this year, especially people in their 20s and 30s,” she said. “But longtime customers in their 50s and 60s haven't disappeared.”

At Jeil Sanghoe, another bath supplies shop, a vendor watched two young customers fill their baskets and stepped in to give advice.

“One or two necessary items are enough,” she told them. “A sauna cap is a must, to protect your head from the heat, plus one or two scrub towels. You can always come back later if you need more.”

“Young people who had never been exposed to body-scrubbing culture before are discovering it now,” she said. “And they are getting genuinely excited about it.”

BY KIM HA-YOON [[email protected]]