'Sungsimdang in Daejeon, Lee Jae Mo in Busan'… The Unprecedented Myth of the Regional Restaurant Industry Exceeding 30 Billion Won in Sales

■ Phenomenal Performance Surpassing High-Priced Seoul Landmarks and Famous Pizza Franchises

We are living in an era where the saying, 'If there is Sungsimdang in Daejeon, there is Lee Jae Mo Pizza in Busan,' is not awkward. According to the mobile restaurant reservation service 'Catch Table', Lee Jae Mo Pizza swept all the top 5 waiting spots for famous restaurants in the Busan area (Main Store, Busan Station Branch, Main Store 2, Seomyeon Main Building, Seomyeon Jungang Branch) and also ranked 2nd in the national waiting restaurant rankings.

Having recently surpassed 30 billion won in sales, Lee Jae Mo Pizza's performance can be seen as the epitome of the fastest-growing regional landmark restaurant in the country, excluding franchise headquarters. This achievement is at a level that surpasses the sales of prominent landmark restaurants in Seoul such as Myeongdong Kyoja, Hanwoori, Byeokje Galbi, and Hanilkwan, making it a highly unprecedented case in the restaurant industry where the concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area is distinct.

Especially considering that most landmark restaurants in Seoul, except for places like Myeongdong Kyoja, are primarily meat restaurants with high average customer spending, the performance of Lee Jae Mo Pizza, which sells popular menu items like pizza, is even more phenomenal. Comparing it with the performance of Hanwoori, a representative Seoul landmark, clearly reveals its outstanding growth trend. In Hanwoori's case, it recorded sales of 20.6 billion won (operating profit of 1.3 billion won) in 2019, 15.8 billion won (operating loss of 230 million won) in 2020, 16.4 billion won (operating profit of 300 million won) in 2021, 19.3 billion won (operating profit of 1.2 billion won) in 2022, 21.6 billion won (operating profit of 1.9 billion won) in 2023, and 22.4 billion won (operating profit of 360 million won) in 2024, showing a gradual recovery and stagnation. On the other hand, Lee Jae Mo Pizza drew an explosive upward curve and quickly surpassed Hanwoori's performance by a large margin. Furthermore, even within the same pizza category, it is exceeding the sales of franchise-oriented brands such as Pizza Alvolo, Pizza Etang, No More Pizza, and GOPIZZA, proving its overwhelming power as a single-brand direct management store.

■ 30 Years of Persistence, Thorough Corporate System, and Exploding Sales

Lee Jae Mo Pizza was first opened in 1992 in Gwangbok-dong, Jung-gu, Busan, by CEO Kim Ik-tae, named after his mother 'Lee Jae-mo'. To maintain the consistency of taste, it persisted with only one main store for over 30 years, but to provide new opportunities for employees who had been with them for a long time, it began expanding directly managed stores starting with the Seomyeon branch in June 2022. Prior to this, to pursue full-scale corporatization, it established the operating corporation FGK Co., Ltd. in 2019. Setting up a factory directly across from the main store to manufacture dough and pickles themselves, thoroughly establishing a system to maintain the exact same quality as the main store even as branches increase, is one of the secrets to their success.

Driven by the 'open run' craze where an average of over 1,000 people wait daily and a 1-hour wait for lunch and dinner is the standard, performance is soaring steeply every year. The performance, which was merely 3.8 billion won in sales (operating profit of 390 million won) in 2020, jumped to 4 billion won (operating profit of 350 million won) in 2021, and 7.9 billion won (operating profit of 1.4 billion won) in 2022, and rapidly grew to 16.7 billion won in sales in 2023 when directly managed stores earnestly established themselves. In 2024, it finally achieved 33.7 billion won in sales and 9.2 billion won in operating profit, recording another explosive growth of more than double in just one year. In step with this dazzling growth, the number of employees also exponentially increased from 70 in March 2023 to 284 as of January 2026. Considering the influx of tourists and the overwhelming brand awareness, sales in 2025 are expected to significantly surpass the 2024 record once again.

■ Brand Power That Made Even a Large Retail Conglomerate Yield... Leaping Forward as a National Brand with the Construction of a Mega-Sized Store

Lee Jae Mo Pizza's overwhelming status has humbled even the pride of large retail companies. Recently, Hyundai Department Store exerted strenuous efforts to attract a Lee Jae Mo Pizza pop-up store to its Connect Hyundai Busan branch as part of revitalizing the old downtown commercial district. After the department store buyer traveled over 10,000 km back and forth on the KTX to persuade them, the entry was only finalized after promising to 100% accommodate Lee Jae Mo Pizza's 'closed on Sundays' philosophy even during the 10-day pop-up period—an unprecedented move in the department store industry where weekend sales are crucial.

This restaurant, which has a unique concept with an 'I love Jesus' banner hanging at the store entrance and carols playing all year round, is now undoubtedly leaping forward as a national brand. In April 2024, it opened its first store in another region in Ara-dong, Jeju, stepping onto the test bed for external expansion, and is pursuing the construction of its largest-ever store of 1,000 pyeong (3,300 square meters) in the Myeongji-dong area of Gangseo-gu, Busan, with the goal of completion in 2027. This space, with a scale of one basement floor to four above-ground floors, which will house not only a restaurant but also a logistics center and an employee training center, is expected to become a new outpost that will drive the future growth of Lee Jae Mo Pizza.