LINE's coffee shop is too popular to suspend business temporarily.

Shanghai LINE CAFE is closed for business on the 3rd, leaving many specially-arrived mainlanders in vain. (the reporter is inspiring.)

Shanghai LINE CAFE announced on the 3rd that it was closed for one day because of the hot weather and large crowds in line to ensure the safety of customers. (the reporter is inspiring.)

The world's second LINE CAFE opened in Shanghai on July 31, symbolizing that LINE's cute cartoon character LINE FRIENDS will actively expand in the mainland market, and the popularity of super-cute characters has even led to the closure of Shanghai LINE CAFE for about a day and a half. But many mainlanders who went on a special pilgrimage admitted that they didn't know LINE was instant messaging software and "just thought it was cute."

Like Google and Facebook, LINE also had the problem of being inaccessible to users in the mainland market in the middle of last year. Although it suffered a setback in the mainland instant messaging market, the expansion of offline business, mainly LINE FRIENDS, did not stop.

The second company in the world combined with different industries.

After working with UNIQLO on T-shirts and setting up LINE FRIENDS POP-UP STORE in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and other places, the mainland's first formal LINE FRIENDS store opened in Shanghai Xintiandi on July 31, and is the second store in the world to combine coffee shop business outside South Korea.

Unexpectedly, at the beginning of its opening, it was forced to suspend business for about a day and a half due to its higher-than-expected popularity. Some office workers nearby said that the queue was almost crowded at the scene on the opening day, and the queue did not go away from morning till night, and the waiting time for customers was even as long as more than two hours. As a result, business was closed on the afternoon of the 2nd, and many people went excitedly early in the morning on the 3rd, but still threw themselves into the air. Hong Mei-Jing, director of the cartoon image division of LINE, said that there were about 2000 customers on the opening day because they were worried that customers would wait in line for too long under the high temperature and were not feeling well, so they were closed for adjustment.

As a matter of fact, many people who went there specially did not know that LINE was an instant messaging software. "they just thought it was cute."

The lovely image captures the heart of a young girl

Even so, the lovely image of LINE FRIENDS still captures the hearts of many girls. it is understood that most of the customers who visit brick-and-mortar stores are women between the ages of 20 and 30.

Summin Yoon, vice president of LINE FRIENDS, said that flash stores had been a great success in Beijing, Chengdu, Hong Kong and other places. Beijing and Chengdu are also under discussion, and there are plans to open large-scale flash stores in Dalian. It is expected to begin to expand in the mainland market in the second half of the year, and plans to open more than 100 stores in the mainland in the next three years. (Wang Bao)