K-Pop fans brave Seoul's Christmas chill to buy BTS 'merch'

YG Entertainment

24/12/2019 09:52

SEOUL, Dec 24 (Reuters) - In the early hours of a freezing
Christmas Eve, 62-year-old Lee Myeong-sook queues up in Seoul's
ritzy Gangnam area for a chance to buy a t-shirt, or maybe even
a toothbrush, branded with the logo of K-Pop boyband BTS.
    The rest of the district is all but deserted, but a huge
line of fans of all ages and nationalities is building up around
her outside the pop-up shop "House of BTS", dedicated to the
seven-piece behind "Boy With Luv" and other hits.
    K-Pop management agencies, including BTS' Big Hit
Entertainment, have been expanding their retail operations to
capitalise on a merchandising boom - this is the band's first
outlet in Seoul with others popping up as far afield as Mexico.
    "I want to buy some cushions, dolls, badges, things like
that today, and notebooks to give to my friends," said Lee, who
waited in line with her 35-year-old daughter.
    Branded jackets sell for 299,000 won ($257) alongside socks,
sleep masks and other merchandise linked to the band which has
spearheaded a wave of Korean pop music and become the first
group since the Beatles to have three number one albums in the
United States in less than a year.
    Analysts say demand for the gear is growing as the
popularity of K-Pop bands spreads beyond the domestic market
across other parts of Asia and into the West.
    Japanese fans outside the store told Reuters they had flown
in because the Gangnam store "had more stuff" than the three BTS
stores in their own country. About 1,500 fans or more visited
the store during a single day last week. 
    "I’m hoping to buy whatever I can," said Rebecca Mould, 25,
originally from the U.S. city of Boston, a BTS fan for about two
years on her first visit to the store. "I already have a lot, so
whatever else there is..." 
    Big Hit - an unlisted company with investments from South
Korea's STIC Investments and China's Legend Capital - has
launched an app called Weply to sell "merch" to fans worldwide.
    It has also partnered with Line Friends, an affiliate of
South Korea's top internet firm Naver  035420.KS , to sell goods
linked to the "BT21" animated characters designed by members of
BTS.
    "The constant derivation of new products seem to contribute
a lot (to sales)," said Han Sang-woung, analyst at Eugene
Investment Co Ltd, who estimated agencies' merchandise profit
margins at around 20%. 
    
($1 = 1,163.3600 won)

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Andrew
Heavens)
 ((jungyoon.lee@tr.com; +82 2 6936 1467;))