E-Mart - Korean version of Big Bazaar

When it comes to shopping, Koreans, love it the Indian way. The sanitized West model of quite efficiency is anathema. That is because Koreans are as pushy, noisy and talkative as Indians are. In Seoul, you would often find yourself pushed, jostled, stepped on, and the Koreans dont mind it one bit. That is one reason, why Walmart never succeeded here. Walmart pulled out of Korea, as the average Korean, was put off by the silence please atmosphere there. Walmart's 16 stores were bought by Shinshagae, a Korean company, which owns E-Mart. Along with Samsung, LG, Hyundai, E-Mart is one of Korea's most famous brand.

E-Mart is Korea's equivalent of Big Bazaar. Like Walmart it has shelves, neatly stacked, with sections for food, vegetables,groceries,medicines, consumer items, toiletries. But the noise level would do any Indian marketplace totally proud. Any Indian person would feel right at home, here, with the crowds, noise and banter. I had heard of E-Mart from the day i landed in Seoul. Basically the reason for it's popularity is simple, it offers at prices lower than the regular shop. Where a bottle of jam costs 4$ in a regular shop, in E-Mart it costs around 2$. It was a straight walk from my home to E-Mart, and one fine day, i walked down to it.

Most of the upper sections, were for toiletries, consumer electronics, clothes. I had already arrived from India loaded with toiletries and clothes. And consumer electronics as of now, no position to buy. Anyway i located the vegetables, groceries section, and headed straight down. As soon as i arrived there, the smells, the noise, the banter, ah, me, i was right back in good old India. The non veg section contains, different varieties of beef, pork, chicken and sea food. Koreans love sea food, but its better to stay away from some of their more exotic dishes like cuttlefish, molluscs, octopus etc. The sight of families, filling their bags and trolleys with vegetables, fruits, and other items, reminded of Big Bazaar. I made some minor purchases, but i had to stand in a queue for the bill. There were also food counters all around, offering different eats from pizzas to Korean delicacies.