Pyongyang Department Store No. 1

Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 is the largest department store in Pyongyang , the capital of North Korea . Located in the district (guyoke) Chungyuk.

The building covers an area of ​​40,000 m² and has ten floors (including the basement): in the main building there are five floors, there is also a four-story superstructure. All floors are interconnected by elevators and escalators. On the 1st and 2nd floors they sell medicines, consumer electronics, stationery, on the 3rd and 4th - various basic necessities, including food, on the 5th - objects of art, furniture and musical instruments. On the 8th and 9th floors there is a restaurant and a bar with alcoholic drinks. On the 1st floor there is also a dining room with a milk kitchen for infants.

The assortment of the Pyongyang department store in terms of the quantity and types of goods that must be available for purchase in it is formed, among other things, on the basis of “lists of expected needs”. Such lists are compiled on the basis of a conditional determination of the number and needs of customers from different areas of Pyongyang. However, taking into account the fact that these lists are compiled on a conditional basis, and along with local residents, people coming from other cities also shop in the department store, there is often a shortage of one or another product. There is information that the department store sells products of more than 1600 light industry enterprises from all over the country ^[1] . The department store sometimes hosts peculiar “exhibitions of achievements”, which are visited, among other things, by the leaders of the North Korean state ^[2] .

According to some reports, the department store has armed guards to prevent robberies, most of the visitors buy medicines, and many household goods cannot be bought by almost any of the residents of the city due to their high cost ^[3] .