Supreme Court ``Unmanned ice cream shops are a similar industry to convenience stores'' = South Korea

In South Korea, the Supreme Court has ruled that unmanned discount ice cream shops that operate 24 hours a day are a similar type of business to convenience stores. On December 29, last year, according to the legal community, the 3rd division of the Supreme Court ruled that convenience store owners
filed a request for business ban against the owner of a nearby unmanned ice cream shop, and the lower court ruled that the business could not be prohibited because the business is not similar.
I returned it. Mr. A, who operates a convenience store on the 1st floor of a shopping street in an apartment complex in Gimpo City, Gyeonggi Province, has filed a petition to stop business with the operator of a 24-hour unmanned ice cream shop that opened in 2021.
A lawsuit was filed. At that time, Mr. A entered into a contract with a contract restricting the type of business that restricted similar types of business at the time of the contract for the sale of the shopping district. Mr. A believes that the unmanned ice cream store serves a similar role to a convenience store.
He claimed to be doing this. On the other hand, the owner of the ice cream shop argued that it was not similar to a convenience store. The first trial recognized convenience stores and unmanned ice cream shops as similar businesses and issued a ban on their operations.
The decision was overturned in the second trial. The court stated, ``Convenience stores sell not only food, drinks, and food, but also alcoholic beverages and various household goods, while ice cream shops sell only ice cream, sweets, and bread.
``When considering the comprehensive product sales that characterize convenience stores, it is difficult to say that they are basically in the same industry.''
The Supreme Court's decision was different. Since a considerable portion of convenience store sales overlap with the items sold at ice cream shops, general customers do not buy ice cream shops.
In effect, it is considered a type of convenience store. The Supreme Court stated, ``Excluding tobacco, which accounts for 40% of convenience store sales, only simple processed foods such as confectionery, ice cream, and beverages remain.
``Ice cream stores also sell simply processed foods, and there is a high possibility that general customers will effectively recognize them as a type of convenience store.''
He went on to say, ``Both stores are adjacent to each other on the same floor, the first floor, in a building developed as a shopping district near apartments, and have almost the same area.''
"As the main customer base is the residents of the residential complexes, there is no choice but to put them in direct competition," he added.