Line Friends opens pop-up character store in Hollywood

Line Friends, the character merchandising unit of Japan-based mobile messenger Line, announced Tuesday that it has opened its first pop-up store in Hollywood, Los Angeles, attracting more than 15,000 visitors shortly after the opening.

The store officially opened Friday, and will stay open for the next three months. It is the second Line Friends store to open in the US, after the flagship store in New York City, the company said. 

The LA-based pop-up store is located right across from Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. It showcases over 1,000 types of popular Line Friends character goods, including those featuring original characters Brown & Friends as well as BT21, the collaborative character series made with K-pop boy band BTS.

“We are delighted to open the pop-up store in Hollywood, only a year after we successfully opened one in Times Square, New York. The new Hollywood pop-up will be a hub for Line Friends to understand and communicate with consumers as well as related insiders of the industry in North America,” Line Friends said in a statement.

“We also expect that the pop-up store in LA Hollywood will play an important role in accelerating the company’s IP business in the US henceforward,” it said.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)