Line Friends expands its U.S. market with the opening of its biggest store

Line Friends – the brand based on characters used in stickers from messaging app Line – has opened its second and biggest official U.S. store in Los Angeles.Located right across Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, the store in Los Angeles features a large-scale retail space where customers can experience the brand through a wide array of photo zones and Instagram-ready displays, including a Mega Tata character at the store’s entrance and framed handprints of BTS members.The store will also stock merchandise featuring BT21 , a character IP created through a collaboration between Line Friends and – globally beloved Korean boy band – BTS, as well as items featuring original characters, Brown and Friends.The Los Angeles store came after the successful opening of the brand’s flagship store in Times Square, New York in 2017, where more than 300,000 locals and tourists visited during opening week, and a pop-up store in Hollywood last year, which drew more than 15,000 visitors.According to the company, the U.S. market is acting as a springboard for accelerating its global expansion. In 2018 Line Friends U.S. grew by 338% compared to the previous year.“As we continue to win hearts of millennials all over the world, we are excited to open our second and biggest Line Friends store in Hollywood, CA, the intersection of pop culture and tourist attractions,” according to a statement of Line Friends. “As part of Line Friends’ growing global presence, the Hollywood store is a key milestone for the company in diversifying its IP business, aiming to be a global creative studio and continuing to expand into the U.S. market.”The brand is currently shifting from a conventional character brand to a global creative studio by moving away from traditional retail business practices and focusing on its IP business. The Hollywood store will serve as a hub for continued expansion and partnerships with media and entertainment companies based in North America to develop new content and IPs.Line Friends has already carried out significant collaborations with industry-leading brands in order to strengthen the company’s business partnerships including Converse, Anti Social Social Club, Beats by Dr. Dre, and Hot Topic.