Let's find out the president of '69 POCHA,' a bar representing youth, on the street in front of Changwon University.

Q : Why did you take over the ‘69 Pocha’?

I'm Cho Jae-hoo, president of ‘69 Pocha’, majoring in international trade at Changwon University. And I like to communicate and interact with students. I have a lot of affection for Changwon University, so I worked for the student council, and I spent a long time in university. The reason why I took over '69 Pocha' is my affection for Changwon University and my personality. I prefer to lead something, and have the personality to lead something. So my parents helped me buy '69 Pocha'. Another reason was to communicate and interact with students. I used to like drinking and make friends. Though I could've done something else, I thought I'd take over ‘69 Pocha’. Then I happened to find out that the ‘69 Pocha’ was being sold. The former president of the store was also a graduate of Changwon University, so that led to a smooth takeover last fall.

Q : How has managing a store been rewarding?

First, when the employees feel satisfied with their welfare. I gave our employees brandname clothes that they could wear in their daily lives as store uniforms. The employees seemed to show considerable satisfaction at the time. And we have dinner together at least once every two months. Also, I run a workshop for 2 days and 1 night with employees every vacation. I think I care a lot about my employees, so I often feel that employees are satisfied.

It was also rewarding when customers were satisfied with the changing store. Before I took over the store, there was no air freshener in the bathroom. After I took over, I put an air freshener in the bathroom. And then I heard a customer saying the air freshener was great. It felt rewarding to hear something positive about the air freshener I installed in the bathroom.

The third is when customers enjoy our food. My employees, including me, are always trying to make the food in the store delicious. So every time the customers show a positive response to the food, we feel rewarded.

Q : What was a fun experience?

I once saw customers dance battle at a different table when I played an idol song in a store. Then all the customers clapped their hands and enjoyed it together. I have many other interesting experiences, but I can't talk about that because that was done while our customers were drunk. I'm just sad that I can't tell more interesting stories. Another fun thing was that the employees played a zombie game during vacation. During the zombie game a person covers their eyes and looks for other people. At that time, everyone really had fun playing games and fell down laughing. For example, people right next to a zombie played by shouting and running away to their friend who played the zombie role. And the staff workshop will happen again this summer as well.

Q : What is difficult about managing a store?

There were many things that I didn't know because I was running a business for the first time. I only slept about 3 hours a day. I lost about 12 kilograms in three months. I was really busy for a week because the store was only closed on Saturday. It was also hard when ugly customers came. I think it's ugly when customers treat my employees poorly. These rude customers kept ringing the bell and pretending not to press. And they got angry at my the employees when they had just ordered the food. In addition there were times when customers would yell at my employees to get their attention or hand them a card and expect to pay without getting up.

Q : What is the pride of The ‘69 Pocha’?

We try to provide cheap food and high quality to our customers. We won't sell anything over 10,000 won in the future to accommodate the students' pockets. Also, If you become an employee of our store, you are guaranteed to have fun. Work can be hard, but I think I can guarantee fun and memories. I know that many employees get along well that they have many private meetings. Employees other than me go to a PC room or Karaoke. And sometimes they drink alcohol. Whenever that happens, I feel sorry for myself as president that I cannot join them. Also, the atmosphere in our store is very good. I think our store seems to be an environment that can be a lot of fun. I also feel ashamed to say it myself, but I think I'm proud to drink in such an amazing atmosphere. I think I'm even more proud of the '69 Pocha' because of the passionate customers.

▲ Picture of president and employees in the '69 Pocha'

By Seo Seong-Il, reporter  qlvmfl99@naver.com

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