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Shoppers queue to buy Pyeongchang long padded coats in front of Lotte Department Store in Sogong-dong, Seoul, Saturday. / Yonhap |
By Chyung Eun-ju
People desperate to buy Pyeongchang long padded coats formed long queues outside official Winter Olympics Stores around Korea on Saturday.
The coats had sold out at online and offline stores within two weeks since going on sale on Oct. 26. Stocks were finally replenished on Saturday.
Queues outside snaked more than several hundred meters hours before opening time, with some stores forced to call police.
"I have been waiting since 7:30 a.m., but I received ticket number 238," said Lee, a woman, 60. "I am worried I won't be able to buy as many tickets as I want."
About 700 people queued outside Lotte Department store in Jung-gu, with shoppers jostling for position. First in line was a man who had waited since 2 a.m. for the store to open at 10 a.m.
"The employees had to section off the consumers to form a line by handing out numbered tickets and setting up safety gates," said Moon Joon-oh, the head of a support team at the store.
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| Pyeongchang long padded coats / Captured from PyeongChang 2018 Official Online Store |
The relatively cheap price of 149,000 won ($136) and goose-down filling stoked demand.
Second-hand online stores also started selling the coats at a premium price.
A total of 23,000 0f the 30,000 coats produced have been sold, with the rest to go on sale on Nov. 22.
A Pyeongchang Organizing Committee official said it was almost impossible to produce more coats at this stage.
