Koreatown, NY

Koreatown is an area in New York City filled with Korean food and Korean-influenced culture shops, such as bbq, restaurants, bars, and karaoke. Lately, what has made Koreatown famous and traffic jams are the popularity of k-pop, Korean fashion, and Korean beauty. This sparked the interest of consumers to find out more about Korean culture. The selling pattern we see in Korea Town is that most businesses have the word ‘Korean’, the use of color in signs depends on the type of business, following Korean trends and using Korean celebrities as an advertisement.

Koreatown is located in Midtown Manhattan on West 32nd Street and 6th Avenue and Broadway with a zipcode of 10001, near Greeley Square (figure 2). It is also part of the Garment District. The area’s housing was mostly built before 1939, 2000-2009, and 2010 or later. Due to its high price of living, most people choose to rent as data shows that 74.82% of homes are owner-occupied and 74.82% renter occupied. The dominant race of the population is white and Asian at 46.1% and 45.5%. This contributed to Asians like Koreans starting their community there.

It dates back to 1965, when the Hart-Cellar Immigration Act was introduced. It attracted many people to the United States, including the people in Korea. Due to their English limitation, they can only find jobs as grocers, convince store workers, or garment factory employees with minimum income.

On the other hand, comparing the recent demographic data of Koreatown, there are 1822 residents in Koreatown. The male population of 902 people and the female population of 919 people, which are mostly US-born citizens of 65.09%. The median age is 35 years old. As for the working population, 95.4% are white collar. Koreatown has an average annual income of $170,361, with a median of $116,574 per year. The majority work in private companies (72.95%), while the rest work as self employees (13.4%), private companies (72.95%), governmental workers (5.97%), and not-for-profit companies (7.68%). This shows that compared to the early days of immigration, the people living in the area are improving their lives with higher incomes.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s which created Koreatown, with years of working and savings, the working group had enough money to start their small business. However, they did not plan to create Koreatown, it just happened for them to start a business together in the same area. As Koreatown was a significant success owing to the high foot traffic as it is near the Empire State Building, which makes this area a perfect place to start a business. Finally, in 1995, West 32nd Street has a sign representing Korean culture known as Korea Way (Koreatown for the direct Korean translation), shown in figure 3. Consequently, it acts to notify pedestrians that they’ve reached Koreatown, where stores and shops are closed to each other, making it very convenient for people to explore the Korean culture.

 

In Koreatown, there are plenty of restaurants because when consumers are curious about another culture, the first thing that comes to mind is their food. The business owners caught that mindset and added the word “Korean” as a selling point to capture Koreans and non-Koreans. For example, in figure 4 and figure 5, the word “Korean” is emphasized enough to argue that their food is different from the local American food. Also, it triggers consumers to have a try as some people may not have had Korean food before. Therefore it is a booming business approach. Moreover, figure 4 and figure 5 both use red in their signs to represent food. The color red triggers appetite and is commonly found in natural foods, such as pepper, strawberries, cherries, etc. Besides that, red is a very bright and bold color that is eye-catching. That being the case, red is commonly used in the food industry.

Another theme is the emphasis on Korean words over English words. For example, figure 6, has a sign of “French Optical Fashion” with Korean words on top of the English words creating a sense that Korean-speaking consumers are their top targets, but they also welcome English speakers. In figure 8, the sign with “Woorijip” is not an English word instead it is a pronunciation of the Korean word located above with the translation of “my house”. In the flip of the coin, for figure 7, even though English is on top of the Korean words, it is also a direct pronunciation of the Korean word on the bottom. The Korean word is “kimbob” a rice roll famous in Korean culture. The signs create a feeling that the business is geared toward Korean-speaking people because no one will understand what the signs meant. It almost acts as if non-Korean customers are not their target at all.

Koreatown has a lot to offer besides its traditional Korean food. There are a lot of bubble tea stores and dessert spots. For example, the bakery Paris Baguette and Tous Les Jours has roots in South Korea. However, most people assume that they’re from France as the bakery’s name has French words and a place in France. Those bakery coordinates with Koreatown as the main interest in Korean culture. Besides that, the bakery and boba stores use the color white or beige for their band name since brighter colors represent slate clean, simplicity, and organization that fits the atmosphere of that nature. For Paris Baguette (figure 10), the choice of a dark color makes the white font stands out, while Tous Les Jours (figure 9) incorporated LED lighting with a bright background to show the different shades of white. On the other hand, looking at the boba shop called “Tea Makers”, using the background color of green. The green color links with nature as tea directly comes from nature. For this reason that it is the perfect location to catch up with friends and family while enjoying something sweet along with a drink.

Besides food options for average consumers, Koreatown has a city nightlife to offer. Many karaoke bars, nightclubs, and billiards in Korea Town open past midnight. Koreatown nightlife has different drinks to offer. The most popular Korean alcohol beverage is Soju. As we can see that Soju is emphasized in figures 12 and  13 for happy hour, and restaurants also have Soju listed individually. Some restaurants open past midnight or even 24 hours to gain more business, as shown in figure 11. That being the case where people may be looking for food after their party is over. The sign in figure 11 uses purple to highlight that they’re available now. It argues that, no matter how late it is, there will always be food to fill customers’ stomachs. The color purple represents bravery, as partying or going out usually happens during the nighttime. The downside of going out at night is that crime tends to occur at night. This means we are more alert than usual as crimes are active during night hours. Also, the use of black in the signs is seen to construct an area for consumers to be distressed from the long week that just passed. For example, when we go to bed, we shut the lights and make our room dim as it assists us in falling asleep faster. The use of black has a similar concept.

 

Furthermore, some shops are influenced by the Korean entertainment industry. This draws back to 2012 as the song “Gangnam Style” from Korea made a hit in the world. It made a noise for the world to draw attention to the Korean culture. On top of that, lately, the band BTS has made it to the top of the Billboard 200, creating even more noise and shedding brighter light on Korean culture. Speaking of that, this influenced Koreatown to make profits off of band posters and albums. As we can see, a bookstore in figure 14 uses the name “Korean Books & K-Pop Music” to attract customers. Also, book cover pages and advertisements use Korean idols to promote fans’ purchases. Furthermore, the use of band posters informs potential buyers that they have this band’s poster or album available in the store, which will create business for them. 

Similarly, Korean culture affects the beauty industry as the trend focuses on skin first and cosmetics second. Meaning, that Koreans prefer their skin to be radiant and reflective from using skincare products. As a result, in Koreatown, there are skincare stores and posters to promote this idea. Meanwhile, there are discount posters shown in figure 15 with only skincare products, although the brand Nature Republic does carry cosmetic lines. The poster emphasized 50% off in the color red and background of yellow to grab the reader’s attention, while the promotion item is rather smaller than the discount. When people notice an advertisement that says 50% off, the first thing that comes to mind is there is a sale. The next thing they consider is what item is on sale and think whether or not the item is necessary. This poster did its job of appealing to people that walked passed it. They will most likely stop and take a glance. 

Categorically, Koreatown is an ideal place to visit as it is remarkable with Korean culture-based businesses. In terms of food, beauty, Korean celebrities (idols), coffee shops, bakeries, tea shops, and nightlife distress. Each branch of business has its theme and meaning in terms of using colors such as red, white, purple, green, and black.