A Korean-style convenience store is opening in downtown Durham
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The "Ramyun Library" at convenience store in South Korea. Photo: Jintak Han/The Washington Post via Getty Images
A Korean-style convenience store is coming to downtown Durham this summer as part of an effort to encourage more women- and minority-owned businesses to open.
Why it matters: Korean culture has grown more prominent in the U.S. in the past decade, thanks in part to K-Pop as well as the growth of the Korean-American population.
- Still, Durham doesn't have the same level of accessibility of Korean goods and food that much larger cities like Los Angeles have.
Driving the news: Kristine Suh, who has been cooking Korean food at pop-ups across Durham, plans to open Dosirak next month at 307 W. Main St.
- Dosirak, which is the Korean word for lunchbox, will sell Korean to-go snacks and meals, desserts, Korean ingredients, gifts and a wall of Ramyun instant noodles that customers can cook with hot water at the store.
What they're saying: Suh said she wants the store to be a way for people to explore Korean culture, and where they can try new foods and ingredients.
- That is what she has been trying to do at pop-ups across the town, which she hopes to continue.
- "It's a way for me to give food that might not exist elsewhere a place on a menu," Suh said, noting she recently served seaweed soup — a common birthday tradition in Korea — at Remy's Lounge.
Between the lines: Dosirak is opening in Downtown Durham Inc.'s 300-square-foot incubator space on Main Street, which gives entrepreneurs a chance to test their ideas in the market.
- DDI gives businesses a chance to rent the space for up to a year before letting another business give it a go.
- The incubator space is currently used by Ashleigh Bakes Daily, a cookie store that is moving into a permanent spot this summer.
Zoom in: Suh is originally from the Los Angeles area, where her parents still own a Korean restaurant.
- She traded New York City for Durham in 2020 during the pandemic.
What's next: Because the space is small, Suh will be limited in all that she can serve at Dosirak.
- She plans to work with a commissary kitchen to prepare foods ahead of time. But the ultimate goal is prove the business works and open in a larger space in the future.