It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

KOREA LIFE BLOG TOURS A KOREAN TECHNO-MART (with pictures). He notes:

What I don't understand about Technomart is that the have store after store after store selling the exact same brands and models for the exact same prices by way too many salespeople. Seems to me if they cut out the extra stores, salespeople, and display models, they could lower the prices considerably.

This is, of course not unique to this particular venue. Go to almost any major market in Seoul--Namdaemun, Tongdaemun, Yongsan Electronics etc.--and you will find the same procession of small stores selling exactly the same products for the same prices. Go to almost any department store in Korea and you will find an abundance of apparently superfluous employees. It is all terribly inefficient when viewed from the perspective of our consumer-first Wal-Mart model of retailing. On the other hand, it provides a livelihood for a not inconsiderable number of people. In a world in which (if we can trust Robert Reich) manufacturing jobs are disappearing (and not just in the United States), where the jobs are going to come from is not an insignificant question.