Half-Korean Deividas Kim (20) has already managed to capture people’s attention on the Internet. Having successfully created an online store, the ISM University student is going even further – in Vilnius, Šv. Stepono g. 4, he opened a convenience store that is extremely popular in Korea today. (Lithuanian self-service stores) The door of the Kims Corner format store.
In an open interview with the news portal tv3.lt, Deividas told us what you can buy in the exclusive store, talked about prices, and revealed what is most important when starting a business at a young age.
“I live in Lithuania, I was born and raised here, but I am half Korean. That’s why I have often traveled to South Korea since childhood, where I had the opportunity to try many things that are not available in Lithuania.”
Besides, I am currently studying business management at ISM University. Since I have a lot of experience traveling between two countries, I thought why not try to create something of my own – authentic and original. That’s how the idea of “Korean Convenience Store””, he shared.
How is this store different from a regular one?
When asked how his store differs from the usual ones for Lithuanians, he highlighted the main differences.
“The main difference is that in such a store you can not only shop, but also eat. In Lithuania, we are used to buying a bun or other snack in stores and, if possible, heating it up.”
“Korean Convenience Store” “The concept is much broader. Here you can buy various dishes, such as rice, pasta or other products, which can be prepared on the spot and eaten immediately. It’s not just shopping – it’s a whole experience,” Deividas assured.
According to D. Kim, such a concept is not yet familiar to Lithuanians, and many products are also not easily available in our country.
“I think that for many Lithuanians, such an experience will be completely new, because it can usually only be tried when traveling to South Korea or some other large European countries. In addition, our goal is to offer products that are simply not available in Lithuania at the moment. We want everyone to be able to taste them and feel like they are in South Korea, at least for a short time,” the interviewee said.
New flavors and prices
As the young entrepreneur said, the store will offer a variety of food products that many people have never tasted in Lithuania before – the assortment will be wide.
“We are talking about a very wide range – from ice cream and drinks to various snacks and quick meals. Of course, ice cream or drinks can be found in other stores, but in our case they are imported directly from South Korea.”
“Our goal is to offer products from new brands that have not yet been seen in Lithuania at an affordable price. Of course, the prices must be such that the business can operate successfully, but we want people to be able to try these products without overpaying,” said D. Kim.
Delicious drinks and the myth of Korean food
David also revealed his favorite Korean products. While many people know about the popular noodles, he likes Korean drinks the most.
“Although one of our main focuses is instant noodles, my favorite products are Korean beverages.”
“I think Korean drinks taste more natural. Whether it’s mango, peach, or something else, you can really taste the fruit itself, not an artificial flavor. That’s why I like them so much,” the guy emphasized.
It’s true that for those who aren’t familiar with Korean food, it may seem that many dishes are too spicy for Lithuanians. Kim debunked this myth.
“Koreans are actually used to much spicier food than Lithuanians. Their threshold for spiciness is much higher.”
However, this does not mean that all Korean food is spicy. For example, a significant portion of the sauces are not spicy at all. Even in dishes that use spicier spices, you can often adjust the amount.
“So I would say that the idea that all Korean food is very spicy is more of a stereotype,” he revealed.
Online store operations
While the curious were waiting for the opportunity to see for themselves whether Korean food was really spicy, Deividas found a way to test the market before opening physical doors – and thus the e-store was born.
“Initially, we planned to open both a physical and an online store at the same time. The online store was supposed to be an additional opportunity for people from other cities to order products. However, after the search for premises for a physical store took a long time, we decided to launch the online store earlier,” shared Deividas.
According to the guy, he was very surprised by people’s reactions – they managed to cover part of the renovation of the premises from their income.
“The results were pleasantly surprising. Even without much advertising, mainly through acquaintances and social networks, we received a lot of orders. This helped cover part of the repair costs. We really didn’t expect such activity,” said the budding entrepreneur.
Challenges and investments
As for the fate of the physical store, the opening took place today, but it required the final formality of approval from the State Food and Veterinary Service. Due to the protracted bureaucratic issues, he singled out that he would advise all new entrepreneurs to take care of this in advance.
“If I had to give advice to other budding entrepreneurs, I would say – study all the legal requirements very carefully in advance. This can save a lot of time and avoid unforeseen obstacles,” he said.
As he dealt with the bureaucratic formalities, Deividas remembered that paperwork was only part of the challenge. The next, no less headache-inducing stage was finances.
“The biggest challenge is definitely finances. You usually plan a budget, but once you start working, there are a lot of unexpected expenses. Then you realize that you need much more money than you expected.”
When it comes to a physical store, the condition of the premises plays a big role. It’s one thing if the premises have already been renovated, and it’s another if they need to be set up from scratch.
“In my case, we chose a very good location, but we had to equip the premises, so the costs increased. However, I think that when it comes to such a physical store, we should focus on an investment of at least several tens of thousands of euros,” the business student revealed.
The process is shared on social media
Faced with large investments and bureaucratic issues, David realized that university textbooks did not provide all the answers. It was the desire to show the unvarnished behind-the-scenes of business that prompted him to take up the camera.
“I decided to film everything because I study business myself and I’ve always been very interested in seeing how a business is actually built from scratch. We get a lot of theory at university, but no one tells us in detail how everything works in practice – how the laws work, what mistakes to avoid, or what challenges we face.”
“I thought there were more people like me. Maybe not everyone is interested in the concept of a Korean store, but they are interested in watching a young person build their own business. I think a lot of people dream of starting something of their own,” Kim mused.
In addition, social media helps attract customers and find out what they really want and expect.
“The next goal was to talk about the future store and build an audience before the opening. The first video received a lot of interest – we received a lot of messages and recommendations about what products people would like to see in the store,” he said.
It’s true that when people are actively involved in social media, they inevitably encounter negative opinions. According to the interviewee, this happened to him too, but it actually turned out to be beneficial.
“Of course, we also receive skeptical comments. Some people, without even being interested in our offer, compare prices with other stores operating in Lithuania and say in advance that everything will be very expensive. However, different opinions are normal. I am even interested in seeing what people think and what they expect.”
When you work on a project for a long time, there comes a point when you can no longer objectively evaluate it. After a while, it starts to seem like everything is wrong, that everything needs to change.
“The most helpful thing was simply asking other people for their opinions. Hearing feedback from strangers helps you understand what really works and whether there are any obvious mistakes. It’s very motivating,” said Deividas.
Opening impressions
The interviewee is currently in South Korea, where he is looking for new products for his business, but this did not prevent the store from opening – today it opened its doors to all Asian food lovers and curious people. David shared his impressions of the opening:
“I’m not physically in the store myself, but I watch everything through cameras, see reports, analytics, and am constantly in touch with the employees who are currently working there.”
In fact, everything is going very well. As soon as we opened the doors, within the first two or three minutes we had our first customers. They were passersby who were completely strangers to us, so it was a very pleasant surprise. People were surprised to see that such a store had opened, they really liked the idea itself, the environment, they shopped, they were interested in various products.
<…> Some even said that they had been waiting for something like this for a long time, although they did not even know that such a store would open soon. It is really nice to hear such words – they show that we are on the right track.
“There were even customers who visited several times today – the first time they stopped by for a snack or a drink, and then, after work, they came back for ice cream or other snacks. They said they would come tomorrow too, because they were going to work again. Things like that are very motivating,” the guy said happily.
Future plans
Speaking about the future, D. Kim said that he dreams of expanding his business not only in other Lithuanian cities, but also outside the country.
“Like probably every person who starts a business, I would like to grow and expand. We have a lot of ideas. In the future, we would like to open more stores in other cities in Lithuania. We are also considering another, larger store in Vilnius, where we could implement all the ideas we currently have.”
Moreover, there are very few such stores in the Baltic States yet. As far as I know, in Latvia “There is only one similar store, and there is no such concept in Estonia yet. Therefore, I see a lot of opportunities for growth,” the businessman said.
Author: Miglė Kuzmickaitė, TV3.lt
Photo: David Kim’s personal archive
Photo: David Kim’s personal archive
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