[News] Subway stations now serving premium coffee and haircuts.

[News] Subway stations now serving premium coffee and haircuts.
Cr. - http://www.korea.net/

As public transit ridership continues to grow, subway stations in Seoul are being transformed from transit points into multi-purpose social spaces.

In recent months, express cafés selling premium coffee at 990 won a cup have popped up in subway stations across the city, amassing instant popularity.

This new marketing strategy offers a hot Americano at a quarter of the cost of those found in traditional coffee establishments while saving customers an extra trip. With inexpensive coffee, muffins, and other wares now available just past the ticket gates, subway users are enjoying greater convenience as an element of their daily commute.

Environmentally-friendly hair salons have also opened their doors to commuters in need of a haircut on-the-go.


These salons, located in waiting areas inside several subway stations in Seoul, have customers in and out in ten minutes. The specially developed shampoo that cleans hair without water cuts down on time and water needed. Snipped hairs are immediately disposed of via vacuum to maintain a clean space, while a convenient stop-light installation at the salon entrance notifies customers of the current wait time.

As interior design and maintenance costs for in-station stores are lower on average than those for other roadside shops, many small-sized stores have opened up shop inside of the subway stations. Transfer stations, which attract an especially high amount of foot traffic, have also seen a concentrated growth of commercial spaces.

Along with a growing number of in-station convenience stores, most subway stations now boast vending machines that accept T-money credit and also touch-screen information kiosks that allow users to search for everything from nearby restaurants to bus routes.