SPRINGFIELD – The capital city’s first Korean convenience store has opened on the west side serving far more than “Buldak.”
Buldak is a type of Korean savory noodle dish using instant noodles and differs from the Japanese soup dish by being spicier and using thicker, chewier noodles.
While Pop in Seoul owners Jung and Julie Kim first announced their family-owned store in October of last year and in early March the grocery store held a soft opening to prepare for the grand opening April 2.
The business is at 2637 Chatham Road in Springfield, in the same strip as Cafe Moxo. The store is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“In the soft opening we planned as much as we can and after two weeks running, we were like we need this,” Jung said. “It was really helpful to prepare what to offer to the community.”
The community will see shelves stocked with ramen noodles with toppings along with special paper bowls used to make ramen directly in the store to eat at one of the tables.
Korean noodles aren’t the only dish customers can pick up at the store; tteokbokki (chewy rice cakes), Japchae (glass noodle stir fry), kimchi and kimbap (seaweed rice rolls) are also on the menu.
Outside of the ready-to-eat menu, the grocery store has east Asian cooking ingredients, skincare, knickknacks in coin machines and packaged sweets all imported from overseas and picked up from Chicago and Maryland suppliers.
To celebrate the grand opening and warm customer reception online, the Kims held a raffle for a free Samsung TV for anyone who spent over $20 at the grand opening, which saw the store packed.
“Since we were getting spotlit a lot, I wanted to do something for our customers,” Kim said. “I talked to my brother what can we do and he was like ‘what about a TV?’”
Following the grand opening, Jung Kim has already set his eyes on where to move the brand forward from here.
“We are going to expand our selection to alcohol,” Jung said. “To Soju, to Maekju which is like a beer, since we are carrying Japanese and Korean I’m thinking to bring more sake in.”
Soju is a sweet distilled alcohol traditionally made from rice grain in Korea.
An application for a liquor license has not yet been submitted to the city.
“I’m so happy to see so many different types of people coming in and sharing this Korean experience,” Julie said. “It makes me very happy that we can continue.”
Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@usatodayco.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Pop into Springfield’s first Korean convenience store
Reporting by Claire Grant, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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