Seongsimdang & Jungangno Old Downtown

Character

A bakery queue has become part of downtown Daejeon’s geography. Seongsimdang’s Main Store draws visitors into the Jungangno and Eunhaeng-dong streets that formed the city’s old commercial center, giving one local business unusual power to redirect pedestrian attention

Jungangno supplies the larger context. Underground shopping, Euneungjeongi Culture Street, the Skyroad media canopy, old civic buildings and the streets toward Daejeon Station form a dense downtown around the bakery. The area works as a compact city-center visit with food at its anchor, then retail, architecture and public space extending outward

The experience

The Main Store is busiest as a destination in its own right. Fried soboro, leek bread and a very large rotating selection pull customers through a compact ground-floor bakery, and peak queues can spill well beyond the entrance. The nearby Cake Boutique and Seongsimdang Culture Center expand the brand across several blocks, so the bakery’s presence is visible even before reaching the main door

The old downtown changes the pace after the purchase. Jungangno’s underground arcades connect toward Daejeon Station and the former Chungnam Provincial Government complex, while Eunhaeng-dong remains a youth-oriented shopping area above ground. Euneungjeongi’s long media structure and evening foot traffic add a contemporary layer to streets that have repeatedly been targeted for downtown regeneration

History

Seongsimdang began in October 1956 as a steamed-bun shop in front of Daejeon Station, founded by Im Gil-sun and Han Sun-deok after settling in the city. The business moved to Jung-dong in 1958, then to Eunhaeng-dong in 1967, tying its growth increasingly closely to the old downtown commercial district

Product development turned the bakery into a regional institution. Fried soboro appeared in 1980 and Pantalong leek bread in 1986. In 1992 the main building moved to its current Eunhaeng-dong site and opened what the company describes as Korea’s first bakery restaurant, with bakery, restaurant and café functions stacked in one building. A promotional and souvenir shop followed for Expo 93, when Daejeon’s national profile expanded sharply

The surrounding downtown went through a harder cycle. Commercial gravity shifted toward newer districts, prompting repeated public projects to restore pedestrian use and reconnect the old center. From 2016 to 2022, the Jungangno regeneration project improved the roughly 1.1-kilometer corridor between the former Chungnam Provincial Government office and Daejeon Station, including underground connections and pedestrian infrastructure

Seongsimdang moved in the opposite direction of that decline. By 2024, Hana Card data cited by Daejeon Ilbo counted 110,267 out-of-town visitors among its cardholders, up 61.6 percent from the previous year. The crowds have created queue and street-safety problems, but they also show how a business founded beside the station has become a major source of visitor traffic for the old center

Before you go

Use the Main Store as the anchor, then give the surrounding district some time. Peak bakery queues can be substantial, especially on weekends and holidays. Jungangno Station is the easiest subway starting point for the bakery and nearby Eunhaeng-dong streets; Daejeon Station is close enough to make the old downtown practical before or after a train journey