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Taiwan’s last few gamadians and the people who run them

Taiwan’s last few gamadians and the people who run them

2022-07-31

You might have seen them before. Gamadiams are a Hoklo term for traditional Taiwanese corner stores. Gamadiams were once ubiquitous across the country, but they’ve now largely been replaced by convenience stores and supermarkets. Today, we take a trip down memory lane and visit a few of Taiwan’s last surviving gamadiams. Some are decades-old shops still run by their original owners. Others are managed by enterprising young people, who have found fresh ways to keep the tradition alive. Here’s this week’s Sunday special report.

Miaoli’s Shitan Township has only 4,132 people, making it the least populated of the county’s 18 administrative districts.

Lee Shu-min
Shitan Township office
We have about 1,100 residents aged 66 to 79, and about 1,000 residents over 80. So these days in Shitan, when you’re outside walking around, all the people you see will be older people.

What’s unique about Shitan is not just the large number of older adults, but also the large number of traditional grocers – known in Hoklo as gamadiam . In a short span of just 400 meters along the township’s old street, one can find two such traditional grocers. This location is the older of the two. Built in the Japanese colonial days, It has been operating for nearly 70 years now.

The shop is run by 67-year-old Su Ching-chang and his 95-year-old mother.

Su Ching-chang
Independent grocer
I took over running the shop in 1980. This building was originally our house. You could say the business here is pretty good. When people come back to town, they gather here to buy things.

In an age when there were no convenience stores, gamadiams were where everyone in town gathered to shop. More importantly, they were where town folk gathered to connect with each other.

Lee Shu-min
Shitan Township office
Around the sides of the township’s grocery stores, wherever space allows it, we put out chairs for people to rest. The people who live around here have an emotional connection to these stores.

During the Japanese colonial era, there were as many as 50 such grocery stores in Shitan Township. Later, the exodus of people from the town, combined with the arrival of chain stores, convinced most independent grocers there to close up shop. Today only 12 gamadiams remain in Shitan.

Su Ching-chang
Independent grocer
It’s never occurred to me to close up shop, because I’ve got my mother at home here. Mainly I’m here to take care of her, as well as to keep the shop running.

Although business isn’t as good as it used to be, Su still makes a sufficient living. For his community, gamadiams hold a special meaning.

Lee Shu-min
Shitan Township office
In cities, you have convenient public transportation, so if you need to go to the supermarket or the hypermarket, it’s quite easy to get there. But in a place like Shitan, public transportation is not quite as convenient. Therefore, the small grocery shops still have their place.

Traditional independent grocery stores can still thrive in small towns, perhaps due to the lack of supermarkets and hypermarkets. But what about gamadiams found in cities?

Hidden away in Taoyuan’s Liuhe Commercial District in this small, unassuming shop, the fragrance of coffee fills the air.

The owner of this shop is 45-year-old Tseng Han-yi. She has help from her long-time shop assistant and grandmother, 88-year-old Chiu Huei-mei.

This shop is a hybrid of sorts – one side of it is kept in the style of a gamadiam.

Tseng Han-yi
Shop owner
This area over here is our cafe, and on this side is my grandmother’s gamadiam. Due to space restrictions, in the gamadiam, we just put out some of the more commonly sold items. Some things we keep in the back – like these things here. Actually, our customers come back here themselves to get stuff.

Customers are free to walk into the back room, as if it were their own home – and they make small talk with Tseng’s grandmother. For some 10 years now, the shop’s only customers have been the owner’s elderly neighbors.

Tseng Han-yi
Shop owner
Within just 300 meters of us here, there are a dozen or so convenience stores. Within 500 meters, there are two supermarkets. So basically, we lost all of our customers to those stores.

Business at the store has waned over the years, and Tseng’s grandmother no longer has the energy she once did. In 2017, Tseng decided to close up her own coffeeshop. She transplanted her business to her grandmother’s store so that she could help out.

Tseng Han-yi
Shop owner
I thought, whether I take over the gamadiam or merge it with my coffee shop, I want to make some changes to improve business.

Changes and transformations are all in the hope of drawing in customers. Tseng, an animal lover who has a pet hedgehog, turned the cafe-gamadiam hybrid into a pet-friendly establishment.

Wen-chih
Customer
I went online and searched for meetups of hedgehog pet owners, and that’s how I found this cafe. I followed the map here, and when I arrived I discovered the owner has a hedgehog of her own. She’s also really friendly toward pets.

Hsin-chen
Customer
Only after I stepped inside did I realize there was a gamadiam here. Later I brought my kids here. They loved it, because they’d never seen these things before.

Tseng successfully cracked the pet-owners’ market, and increased revenue at the gamadiam by nearly 20%. Taking her grandmother’s sleep schedule into account, Tseng opens the shop at 9:00 a.m. She doesn’t make meals – only coffee – but on whim, she decided to team up with a breakfast shop.

Chang Chieh-chieh
Breakfast shop owner
The shop owners around here are all really friendly. We share resources – it’s about the common good, about coexisting. So, even if it’s just for a club sandwich, I’ll go there, I’ll deliver it to them– I’m really willing to do that.

Tseng Han-yi
Shop owner
I told them, “I’ll order breakfast from you, but since the meat marinade that you use contains rice wine, you can buy that wine from us– because my grandmother sells that stuff.”

Through cooperation and reciprocity, traditional shops in the neighborhood help keep each other alive. Over in Taoyuan’s Xinwu District, this family is also keeping traditional alive.

The Chung family has lived in this townhouse for three generations. They opened a grocery store on the first floor in 1956. In 1986, second-generation owner Chung Hsing-ming took over. With the advent of convenience stores and supermarket, business got harder and harder. Roughly 10 years ago, Chung Hsing-ming’s daughter began helping out, by bringing fresh ideas to the traditional operation.

Chung Pei-ju
Independent grocer
I work at the airport, where I encounter lots of new ideas from other countries. My company tends to engage in group-buying, and sometimes I’d buy something delicious through the group and then want to go buy more, but would have to wait a long time for the chance. Xinwu is really small, and most of the young people here are in junior high or senior high school. So, I decided to start a collective-buying group, to get those young people to come buy stuff at our shop.

The first group purchase that Chung Pei-ju introduced was chocolate from Japan.

Chung Pei-ju
Independent grocer
At that time it was impossible to buy Black Thunder chocolate bars from Japan. You couldn’t find them anywhere in Taiwan. But at the airport where I was working, I could get them. So I started buying them in bulk, to resell. Then everyone started lining up at our shop to get them.

Chung Hsing-ming
Independent grocer
How did we suddenly get so many young people coming to our shop? We didn’t recognize any of them. Some even came from other parts of the country – there were lots of them! It was quite strange. That really piqued our interest.

The Chung family’s gamadiam suddenly became famous. Chung Pei-ju set up a Facebook fan page for the shop, and began looking for the next sales opportunity. But the older people in her family didn’t understand the idea of group-buying. The high price of the items she wanted to buy made them doubt her idea’s earning potential.

Chung Pei-ju
Independent grocer
My father was opposed to my way of doing things, but I had confidence in myself. I thought those imported snacks were really delicious, and I was sure young people would feel the same. So I did it my way and showed my dad that even if I bought that many cakes, I could sell them all. He was really surprised.

In the end, Chung Pei-ju’s older family members saw the success of her methods and came onboard. They learned how to use social media platforms and how to set up collective-buying groups. Over time the number of customers grew, and store revenue grew by nearly 60%.

Gamadiam are a key part of Taiwan’s traditional culture. For the older generations that opened them, they provided good livelihoods. As youth bring fresh ideas into these bastions of tradition, the spirit of the past continues to live on in the present.

親情復興‧柑仔店不敗!

2022-07-31

台灣的早期社會,柑仔店是全村交易的集合站,更是村民聚集、聯絡感情的好去處。然而,隨著連鎖超商、賣場跟大型量販店越來越多,傳統雜貨店面臨強大的競爭壓力,有些店撐不下去,黯然歇業。這個單元,我們要帶您看,有部分柑仔店在二代或三代的接手經營之下,變得不一樣了,不但保留濃濃的人情味,也結合了傳統與流行,讓老雜貨店有了嶄新風貌。

苗栗縣獅潭鄉,鄉內僅有4132人,是全縣18個鄉鎮中,人口最少的一個行政區。

[[李淑敏課長 苗栗縣獅潭鄉鄉公所農業課]]
“65歲以上的老人大概是1100多人,80歲以上的人口將近快1000人,所以現在獅潭這邊,你走在老街上或走在路上,其實看到都是年紀很大的老人”

這裡的特色不只是長輩多,柑仔店也很多,短短400公尺的老街上,就有兩家雜貨店,歷史最悠久的是這一間,在日治時期建造,經營近70年的傳統商行。

掌店的是67歲的蘇慶彰,還有他高齡95歲的媽媽,共同維繫著柑仔店的日常。

[[蘇慶彰 興光商店老闆]]
“接手是從民國69年,這個家本來是我們的住家,生意可以講是很好,可以講說,人家一回來,集中在這裡買東西”

在沒有便利商店的年代,柑仔店是村落交易的集合站,更是村民聯絡感情的好所在。

[[李淑敏課長 苗栗縣獅潭鄉鄉公所農業課]]
“獅潭鄉的雜貨店周邊,只要有空地,我們都會擺座椅讓大家休憩,其實居住在這邊的人,會對雜貨店來說,他有一種情感的寄託在這裡”

在日治時期,全獅潭鄉的雜貨店多達50多間,因為人口外移嚴重,加上兩間連鎖超商進駐,使得生意大幅銳減,全鄉的柑仔店,如今也僅剩12間。

[[蘇慶彰 興光商店老闆]]
“收是沒有想過收,因為家裡有個老母親在家裡坐著,最主要是繼續照顧著她,然後把店經營著”

雖然生意大不如前,但尚能養家餬口,對於鄉村社會而言,柑仔店有著它存在的意義。

[[李淑敏課長 苗栗縣獅潭鄉鄉公所農業課]]
“市區的話,可能因為它交通方便,所以他可能要去超市或是大賣場就相對方便,但是我們這邊獅潭,就是交通上比較不是那麼方便,所以雜貨店還是有它重要的位子”

或許因為沒有賣場,沒有超市,傳統的雜貨店,還能在偏鄉裡夾縫中求生存,但都市裡的柑仔店呢。

隱身在桃園中壢六合商圈,巷弄裡這間不起眼的小店,飄來陣陣咖啡香。

店長是45歲的客家人曾寒怡,資深員工則是這一位高齡88歲,正彎著腰,認真打掃的邱惠妹。

這間店其實是複合式經營,店內一隅,保留部分柑仔店的風貌。

[[曾寒怡 咖啡柑仔店老闆]]
“這裡是我們的咖啡店的部分,然後這邊是我阿婆(奶奶)的柑仔店,因為空間的關係,所以說柑仔店這邊,我們就陳列一些比較常賣的東西,有些東西其實是在後面的,後面的話就有這些東西,其實我們的客人,他們會自己進來拿”

彷彿是走進自己家廚房,老顧客熟門熟路地走進店的後方,也順道跟阿婆話家常,實際上,早在十多年前,會來雜貨店裡的客人,就只剩下老鄰居而已。

[[曾寒怡 咖啡柑仔店老闆]]
“光是距離我們這邊300公尺,就有十幾間便利商店,500公尺以內,就有兩間超市,所以基本上我們所有客源,都被這些瓜分掉了”

生意冷清,阿婆的體力也大不如前,於是2017年,原本在台北開咖啡廳的曾寒怡,決定回家顧店。

[[曾寒怡 咖啡柑仔店老闆]]
“今天我要接手的話,或者說我今天要把我的咖啡店融入裡面的話,對我而言,我還是希望做一些改變,然後業績會有上來”

改變、轉型,無非是希望能增加客群,因此喜愛動物,自己也養刺蝟的曾寒怡,決定把這間複合式柑仔店,變成寵物友善商家。

[[汶芷 客人]]
“我上網找刺蝟聚(會) ,就找到這間咖啡廳,然後透過地圖來這裡,才發現原來老闆自己也有養刺蝟,而且她對寵物都很友善”

[[心貞 客人]]
“進來之後才發現,原來有一個柑仔店,後來就帶小孩來,小孩都很愛,因為他們沒看過這些東西”

曾寒怡成功拓展寵物客群的市場,也讓柑仔店業績成長了近兩成,為了配合阿婆的作息,柑仔店早上九點前就開門營業,但店裡沒有賣餐點,只有咖啡,她突發奇想,採異業結盟的方式與早餐店合作。

[[張婕婕 早餐店老闆]]
“因為我們這附近的店家其實都很友好,會彼此分享資源,這就是共好,共存,所以即使說只是一個總匯三明治,我走過來,送過來,我都很願意”

[[曾寒怡 咖啡柑仔店老闆]]
“我有跟他們說,我就叫你們的早餐,但是你們的早餐醃肉,總是會用到一些(米)酒,你們要醃製那些東西的話,你就跟我們買,因為我阿婆有賣這個東西”

地方共好,互利互惠,讓日漸式微的傳統小店得以維持,像他們一樣為了生存而轉型的,還有桃園新屋這個大家庭。

位在桃園新屋的鍾姓一家,三代子孫都住在這棟透天厝裡,一樓的雜貨店從1956年開始經營,1986年轉由第二代的鍾興明接手,但同樣的,在超商、賣場進駐後,生意一天比一天難做,直到十多年前,鍾興明的女兒為傳統觀念注入新做法。

[[鍾佩如 柑仔店第三代]]
“我在機場上班,接觸到比較多新的國際的東西,公司也是習慣團購,有時候買了很好吃,又想再吃,要再買,要等很久,我就想說,因為這邊新屋區很小,有在的(年輕人)都是念國中,高中,我就開團吸引這些年輕人來買”

柑仔店第一次開團的商品,就是十多年前爆紅的日本巧克力。

[[鍾佩如 柑仔店第三代]]
“雷神巧克力那時候都買不到,全省都缺貨,剛好我在機場這邊,我們可以拿得到貨,就開始用這個來批,批來賣,然後大家都來排隊”

[[鍾興明 柑仔店第二代]]
“突然間我們店怎麼來這麼多年輕人,都不認識,外縣市也有,一大堆,莫名其妙,那時候引起我們的興趣”

頓時間雜貨店聲名大噪,鍾佩如也趁勝追擊,在臉書成立粉絲團,也邊找尋下一波商機,問題是,家裡負責看店的長輩們當時根本不懂什麼是團購,加上有些團購商品價格較貴,他們不禁懷疑生意做得起來嗎。

[[鍾佩如 柑仔店第三代]]
“他(長輩)一直反對我們做這個東西,可是我對我自己很有信心,因為我覺得非常的好吃,年輕人一定會懂的,所以我就做出來給我爸爸看,你看我買了這麼多的蛋糕,我還是把它賣掉了,他也覺得很意外”

於是長輩們放下心中成見,決定跟著年輕人的腳步,學習如何使用社群平台,並建立團購客人的群組,漸漸的,來店裡取貨的客人多了,也帶動雜貨店的生意成長了近六成。

柑仔店,是傳統社區中常見的文化表徵,也是許多老人家一輩子的依靠,家中的年輕人,如果能復興舊有思維,多一點新的灌溉,就能讓原本富有濃厚人情味的老店,因為親情的溫度延續下去。

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