Universal CityWalk LINE FRIENDS SQUARE Opens With K-Pop Focus

Despite the dip in album sales globally, K-pop doesn’t seem to be slowing down, especially when it comes to merchandising power within the fandom.

Universal CityWalk Hollywood’s LINE FRIENDS SQUARE, which opened this past weekend, was aware of the K-pop craze and heavily fitted their store with BTS’ popular animated line, BT21, and Zerobaseone’s Zeroni line. They also included NewJeans’ Buninis, LINE FRIENDS original characters Brown Bear and Cony, and a few NBCUniversal properties, such as Felix the Cat, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Trolls, and Woody Woodpecker, for their COLLER line.

With two other stores in the United States – New York City and Hollywood, Universal CityWalk becomes the third LINE FRIENDS SQUARE. Rebekah Lee, Senior Manager of E-Commerce & Marketing, says the company wanted to remain in the Los Angeles area, with opportunities for events, concerts, and showcases.

“Universal CityWalk Hollywood is such a great partner to work with in opening a new store in their mall,” says Lee. “We thought we could start here and then hopefully expand to other locations in the future. Here is a destination for any character-related events or experiences. It’s a great location to have friends, family, or anyone who may not even be into K-pop come visit the store and have a great experience altogether.”

At their grand opening on Friday, K-pop fans lined up since 6 a.m. for a chance to obtain their favorite character merch, especially several exclusive BT21 items sold only at the Universal CityWalk store. Though BT21 heavily filled the store, it was the Zeroni line that garnered the most attention.

Immediately following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, another group of fans in line waited in a separate line inside the store, specifically for Zeroni items. One Zerobaseone fan, who was second in line, was hoping to buy the consistently sold-out Zeroni plush keychains.

“[Zerobaseone] is my favorite group,” says the fan. “I like collecting all the characters. Today, I got all the last items I needed for my collection. I needed all nine members.”

Many lined up early in hopes of securing free goodie bags, which were given to the first 30 guests, and the event continues next weekend (May 3 & 4). Every visitor is also eligible to participate in a “lucky draw,” where everyone’s a winner. Universal CityWalk is also offering those who purchase between April 25 and May 4 a chance to win one of two pairs of general admission tickets to Universal Studios Hollywood. BTS fans can also look forward to seeing their favorite BT21 mascots making daily appearances from 11 a.m. til 6 p.m.

Jay Ahn, Vice President of LINE FRIENDS America, says K-pop was the biggest draw for Universal, telling us that the NBC Universal team reached out to them for their K-pop characters.

“Of course, we love our original characters like Brown Bear, but K-pop IPs draw the most fans,” says Ahn. “If we have a bigger space, we would definitely bring more original IP as well. We are targeting to open one in Orlando, which will have more space for our original characters and K-pop line.”

Ahn says the opportunities of having the store in CityWalk are endless, as they hope to bring some performances on the main stage and large-scale events. He hinted at looking forward to even more collaborations with popular K-pop stars in the future.

NBC Universal owns and shares the rights to many intellectual properties, including Minions, The Secret Life of Pets, Felix the Cat, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Jaws, Super Mario Bros., Harry Potter, and more. Universal Studios Hollywood heavily showcases these with themed sections, rides, food, and merchandise. With events like Universal Fan Fest, which have brought other IPs into the park, such as One Piece and Star Trek, fans may one day see Brown Bear or BT21’s Chimmy walking around the theme park.

Lee hopes one day it can happen.

“That’s a hope and goal that it would be part of that experience,” she says. “Of course, IP is very strict on how that works. If LINE FRIENDS are able to be part of the theme park inside, that would be a great opportunity, and it would be really fun and exciting for everyone.”