NOVEL NEXT 78
“It seems… it might be a copycat of
Upon hearing those words, my first thought was:
‘The inevitable has arrived.’
Indeed. It’s the fate of successful businesses to spawn imitators.
‘We’ve registered the Bingwa trademark, but that alone isn’t enough to prevent this.’
Even before my regression, after the Snow Flower Bingsu craze began, various café franchises rushed to launch similar bingsu desserts. While the ‘Snow Flower Bingsu’ has a distinctive form, it’s not enough to warrant a patent.
At least the domestic situation is better. When I think about the headaches we had with trademark rights during our overseas expansion later, it makes me shudder.
This time, I’ve applied for trademarks in various countries early on, so I’m a bit more at ease.
“A-a copycat business?!”
Park Sang-won exclaimed, looking as if he might faint at any moment. Jo I-ruk nodded glumly.
“That’s what we suspect. The interior is very similar, and they’ve named their store
“It’s only one letter different from our
Park Sang-won shouted, jumping to his feet. Jo I-ruk nodded in agreement.
“It could cause significant confusion among customers. If Bingwa is crowded, customers might drift over to Bingsang. It might not affect our store’s sales immediately, but in the future…”
Jo I-ruk pushed up his glasses and trailed off.
“We’ve already established the image of Snow Flower Bingsu, so the public probably won’t be too confused,” I said. “This kind of branding tends to last. Even if similar businesses pop up like mushrooms, the ‘original’ usually survives steadfastly.”
“It wouldn’t matter if other franchise businesses were launching their own Snow Flower Bingsu, but the problem is they’re doing this right in front of our Bingwa.”
I curled up the corner of my mouth.
“That’s a declaration of war.”
It’s a clear provocation.
“Even the real estate agency seemed quite troubled,” Jo I-ruk continued. “They said if they had known it was going to be a bingsu shop, they wouldn’t have allowed them to move in, out of business ethics. They were quite embarrassed.”
“Is that so?”
“They said they initially allowed them to move in thinking it was just a café. When they found out later it was a bingsu shop, they contacted us.”
Well, that’s a rare display of conscience.
“Send a thank-you note and an appropriate gift set to the real estate agency that contacted us. And convey our appreciation for their continued support.”
“Yes, understood.”
“And when did you say this copycat business is opening?”
“Next Monday.”
“Let’s go take a look.”
There were a few things I needed to confirm.
“We’ll know when we see it. Whether this place is a real threat to us, or just a half-baked imitation.”
Perhaps it’s because it’s been a while since we’ve had a head-on challenge. I could feel my eyes sparkling without even looking in a mirror.
This is interesting.
Let’s see what they’ve got.
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A clean interior based on white. Sophisticated elements here and there to capture the younger crowd, and warm colors from indirect lighting.
It’s identical.
The overall atmosphere too.
Anyone else would have thought this was Bingwa’s second branch.
“Th-th-this is outrageous…!”
Park Sang-won finally exploded.
“It’s completely similar! Isn’t this too blatant a copy?!”
“Indeed. It’s much worse… than we thought.”
“And there are a lot of people inside too.”
Park Sang-won, Jo I-ruk, and Roh Se-hee spoke in turn. Only I remained silent, staring intently at the sign that read
Just then, some passersby stopped in front of Bingsang.
“Oh? There’s another Snow Flower Bingsu place here?”
“Yeah. I saw Bingwa on the internet, but….”
They glanced inside Bingwa. Now that we have branch stores, there’s no need to wait in line anymore, but still, a considerable crowd filled the interior.
“Ah, it’s too crowded.”
“No seats available?”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“I don’t want to wait. It’s too hot.”
It’s already July. There’s no way to endure long under the blazing sun. Eventually, their gaze turned to Bingsang across from Bingwa.
“Should we just go here?”
“Sure. We’ve come all this way. We should at least try the Snow Flower Bingsu.”
We watched as they brushed past us and opened the door to Bingsang instead of Bingwa.
Park Sang-won’s face flushed red and blue as he watched their retreating figures.
“Isn’t this too much?! Anyone can see it’s a copycat, but they just…”
“It’s an unfortunate reality, but most consumers don’t pay much attention to these things.”
I said coldly. Park Sang-won huffed in response.
“Shouldn’t we make this public?! You know, like how that other café raised that controversy against you, CEO.”
Ah, right. That happened.
“Back then, there was such an uproar even though it wasn’t a copy. This time, won’t the whole nation be on our side?”
“I doubt it.”
I responded cynically once more.
“It seems like it would only consume our brand image and increase fatigue. Besides, we’ve opened quite a few branches now, and we’re past the point where we can garner sympathy as a ‘youth enterprise’.”
Appealing to sympathy like that is enough for just once.
“Cheer up, everyone. The fact that a copycat business has emerged means we’re growing well.”
I smiled brightly, but everyone’s faces remained caught between laughter and tears.
“CEO… are you not bothered at all?”
Jo I-ruk asked.
I let out a long “Hmm.”
“I can’t say I’m not affected at all. I’m human too. But it’s too early to get angry.”
I pointed towards the entrance of Bingsang.
“Let’s go in. We came to eat bingsu, so lighten up those expressions. Who eats bingsu with such grim faces?”
I elbowed Park Sang-won’s shoulder and smirked, and he awkwardly returned a half-smile.
As they all hesitated, I took the lead and opened the door to Bingsang.
Ding-a-ling.
“Welcome to Bingsang~. How many in your party?”
“Four.”
“Alright, I’ll show you to your table.”
We followed the Bingsang employee to a corner table. Even the tables are similar to ours.
‘It feels like they’ve observed and studied us for quite some time.’
The thought crossed my mind that they might not be such an easy opponent after all.
“Here are your menus.”
“Thank you.”
I accepted the menus and spread them out on the table. Everyone scrutinized them from top to bottom with eagle eyes.
As expected.
“It’s completely identical.”
Roh Se-hee blurted out. Everyone nodded.
“From start to finish. Everything.”
“Is this even allowed?”
“Sigh. Really. To be this blatant…”
This situation is more serious than I thought. I stared at the menu with a hardened expression, then raised my hand.
“Yes, are you ready to order?”
“What’s your most popular item?”
“Ah~. The injeolmi bingsu is our best-seller.”
“Then I’ll have one of those and one blueberry bingsu.”
“Alright. One injeolmi bingsu and one blueberry bingsu, coming right up!”
As the employee walked away, a bleak silence settled over the table once more. Most seemed preoccupied with the thought, ‘What should we do about this?’
“I think that person is the owner.”
Park Sang-won whispered in a low voice. Where? I turned my head to see a middle-aged man standing among the young employees.
Is that him?
He’s wearing an apron with the Bingsang logo, but that’s it. No mask covering his mouth, a scruffy beard, and uncomfortable dress shoes.
‘Looks like he never sets foot in the kitchen.’
Well, making bingsu isn’t that difficult, so training part-timers well should suffice.
‘That’s probably why they copied this before the soup rice or snack shop.’
The soup rice shop would be hard to replicate in my opinion. Who else but Lee In-cheol could handle that troublesome blended broth?
The other branches maintain quality because we supply the ingredients and constantly monitor them.
Otherwise, the kitchen staff would have switched to an easier system long ago.
‘And what about the snack shop? That place has become practically a tourist attraction.’
It became a famous spot after well-known YouTubers came to take on the Nuclear Chicken Feet challenge. That’s not something you can copy by simply imitating the menu.
The name value of ‘Happy Snack Nuclear Chicken Feet’ itself has the power to draw people in.
In that sense, this owner chose his target to copy quite well. That’s a skill worthy of praise in its own right.
As I was glancing in that direction, an employee suddenly appeared.
“Here’s your injeolmi bingsu and blueberry bingsu~.”
Clunk.
They set down the bingsu dishes along with the tray.
The generously piled injeolmi bingsu has a familiar appearance. The blueberry one is mounded so high you can’t even see the white shaved ice beneath.
At first glance, it seems they’re giving more than we do.
‘They’re really trying to devour us whole.’
Looking at this bingsu, you can tell. This store wasn’t established merely to pick up the overflow customers from our Bingwa.
They intend to overwhelm the original. That determination was palpable.
“And here you go.”
“……?”
Huh?
The employee placed something else on the table besides the bingsu.
“This is our complimentary service item.”
They bowed and scurried away. As a result, we all found ourselves staring blankly at the ‘service’ item placed on the table.
“…Tteokbokki?”
“How interesting. Tteokbokki as a complimentary service.”
Park Sang-won and Jo I-ruk tilted their heads in confusion.
“Given that young female customers make up a large portion of their clientele, it’s not a bad choice.”
Roh Se-hee remarked. The two men finally made an “Ah” sound of understanding. Then Park Sang-won’s face suddenly lit up with alarm.
“Isn’t this a big problem?! They’re giving both bingsu and tteokbokki! If it were me, I’d probably go to the place that gives tteokbokki too!”
“That’s true. Their prices are only a few hundred won higher than ours, but if they offer tteokbokki as a complimentary service, that’s certainly competitive enough to…”
“No.”
I cut them off abruptly.
“There’s no need to worry.”
“Pardon?”
As I grinned, everyone’s expressions turned strange. They must be wondering how I could smile in this situation.
But I couldn’t help but smile.
“They’ve dug their own trap, so why should we need to do anything?”
It looks like we’ll be able to solve this problem without lifting a finger.