Kakao shop arrives in Gangnam
Published: 12 Aug. 2016, 20:11
Visitors crowd Kakao’s newest character shop in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, shortly after opening day on July 2. The store includes life-size displays of the messaging app’s popular emoticon sticker characters. [JOONGANG PHOTO]
Donning umbrellas and sunglasses to beat off the blazing heat, the people there were eagerly waiting to enter the newest Kakao Friends Store, a character shop filled with stuffed dolls, clothing and accessories themed around the country’s most popular messaging app.
The flagship store near bustling Gangnam Station is the latest opened by Kakao, which operates KakaoTalk, the ubiquitous messaging app used by more than 90 percent of Koreans.
The tech company, which brought in 10.3 billion won in revenue in 2015, already has 15 stores across the country that feature the app’s beloved sticker characters, but the new three-story shop in Gangnam has by far been its most popular. Although the location has already been open for more than a month, the wait to get in still tops three hours on most days and half an hour on good days.
Inside the store, all the decor is tinted with the yellow hue of the KakaoTalk logo. Stuffed dolls and sundry products line the shelves along with cosmetics and skin care products featuring the characters’ faces. The popularity of the app’s emoticon sticker packs has made Kakao Friends a well-known brand in Korea.
“To increase the attractiveness of the intellectual property of the characters, we are proposing collaborations with diverse brands,” Kakao said.
The characters have become so popular that the company sells everything from Kakao-themed phone chargers to blankets with the characters’ various facial expressions. One Chinese couple visiting the shop said they came to buy some cups to decorate their new house and also to take pictures with the life-size character displays that dot the store.
In fact, many who visit say they stop by just to pose with the large characters. One couple snapping a photo beside a giant smiling anthropomorphic peach said the displays are bigger and more numerous at the new Gangnam branch than other Kakao Friends Stores.
“Purchasing products is not our primary reason for coming here,” they said. “Looking around the shop and taking pictures is why we came here.”
On the first floor, people huddle around a giant orange whiskerless lion, Kakao’s newest character “Ryan.” Since the company introduced Ryan in January, he has become the app’s most popular character, notching the most downloads among emoticon sticker packs.
“We believe the trustworthiness of Ryan makes him popular,” a Kakao Friends Store manager said. “Ryan being an adviser to other characters, he shows reliability and solidness that makes the customers want to hug him and feel consoled.”
At the checkout line, many customers could be seen holding the store’s latest Ryan doll featuring the character in a blue hoodie.
“My girlfriend and I came here before, and at that time, we were only here to take pictures and check out the shop since it was so famous,” said one male customer who was hugging a backpack-sized Ryan doll.
“But because my girlfriend liked the characters so much, I came back to buy the doll as her present.”
BY SHIN SANG-MI [graceshin1004@gmail.com]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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