Lee Hyori's Coffee Shop Success Sparks Controversy?! Nearby Coffee Businesses Unite in Protest!

According to South Korean comprehensive media reports, South Korean female singer Lee Hyori and her musician husband Lee Sang-soon have caused dissatisfaction among nearby coffee shop owners and a former ruling party member due to their recent coffee shop opening on Jeju Island.

On July 1st, the coffee shop jointly operated by Lee Hyori and her husband began operations. Although the couple had not done any promotion for their coffee shop beforehand, netizens sharing photos with Lee Hyori and pictures of Lee Sang-soon brewing coffee for customers on various social platforms attracted large crowds of netizens and fans to visit.

In the first three days of opening, the queue outside the coffee shop extended over 100 meters daily, causing dissatisfaction among neighboring coffee and beverage shop owners, who then approached a former ruling party member to speak for them.

Consequently, Jeon Yeo-ok, a former member of South Korea's ruling party, publicly criticized Lee Hyori and her husband's approach to opening a coffee shop on Jeju Island on July 3rd via Facebook. She believes that as public figures, celebrities have greater influence than entrepreneurs, and this situation is like an entrepreneur's child opening a bakery...

"I'm just curious why these people want to open coffee shops? Is it because the operating threshold for coffee shops is lower than other food and beverage businesses? If this continues, all the surrounding coffee shops will go bankrupt." She also stated that for the celebrity couple, opening a coffee shop on Jeju Island is just a hobby and a way to add some 'spice' to life, but for many coffee shop owners on the island, this is their livelihood.

In her post, she also wrote that the coffee shop opens at 9 o'clock, but there is already a 100-meter queue waiting in the hot outdoor weather. In such hot weather, all products in the store sold out within 12 minutes, and they announced temporary closure... Is this really how a coffee shop should operate?

Faced with Jeon Yeo-ok's questions, the couple did not respond, causing netizens to debate the issue. Although some netizens criticized that the celebrity couple's coffee shop would bring losses to surrounding businesses, more netizens believed that opening a shop for their love of music and coffee was their freedom. Moreover, there are not only one celebrity-owned coffee shop on Jeju Island, so why only criticize this couple.

In response to netizens' questions, Jeon Yeo-ok posted again on the 4th to answer their inquiries. She stated that when other celebrities open shops, most do not appear in the store. However, Lee Hyori and her husband personally brewing coffee and taking photos with customers undoubtedly attracted everyone to visit out of curiosity, which is extremely unfair to other coffee shops on the island.

She also expressed respect for many celebrities who open restaurants/coffee shops "for a living," as this is a very attractive side business. Many celebrities do not have stable income in the entertainment industry, so they use side businesses to secure a backup plan. However, Lee Hyori's coffee shop is not for livelihood. She already owns several properties on Jeju Island and elsewhere, and now she wants to open another coffee shop with "celebrity effect" on this island where coffee shop operations are already difficult - how can other coffee shops survive?

On the 5th, Lee Sang-soon responded to the matter on Instagram, stating that the coffee shop has nothing to do with his wife, and it was his decision from beginning to end. He expressed that he opened the coffee shop because he has loved specialty coffee for a long time, so he wanted to open a place on Jeju Island that could combine with his created music, providing a gathering place for people with similar tastes. Therefore, the opening of this coffee shop did not include any external promotion.

He also mentioned that because he has no experience in running a coffee shop and is not someone who can deal with many people, the coffee shop is very small. On the first day of opening, his wife and friends came to celebrate, which is why he personally brewed coffee and his wife agreed to take photos. To avoid disturbing other residents and shops, he does not plan to stay in the store during business hours to serve coffee to customers in the future, mainly focusing on overall operations and music creation work behind the scenes.

Regarding the coffee shop opening situation, Lee Sang-soon stated that the shop will not be open to the public for the next two days and will switch to an appointment system starting from the 7th. Other baristas in the shop will also do their best to provide the best coffee for visiting customers. In response to Lee Sang-soon's post, the comment section was filled with supportive voices. Netizens expressed that Lee Sang-soon opening a coffee shop is his personal freedom and couldn't understand why a former ruling party member would criticize this matter.

Celebrity Coffee Shops on Jeju Island

In South Korea, Lee Hyori and her husband are not the only celebrities who have opened coffee shops on Jeju Island; many other celebrities have opened restaurants and coffee shops here. According to analysis by some South Korean media, for artists, the threshold for starting a coffee business is lower, with less capital investment, making it attractive as a side business. Meanwhile, the addition of celebrity shops can bring more foot traffic to nearby commercial areas...

However, a real estate representative stated that although celebrity coffee shops/restaurants sometimes elevate the area into a new commercial district, they can also cause disturbances to local residents and other businesses due to fans' excessive enthusiasm. The celebrity's own fame brings powerful marketing effects, but it also leads to various public controversies... One reason is that the celebrity themselves do not appear in the store, and another is that product prices are inflated due to celebrity status, which cannot sustain long-term consumption.

Therefore, many celebrity-owned shops have very large crowds of customers visiting daily in the first one or two months after opening, but business declines later on, especially for coffee shops. Coffee shops themselves emphasize the taste of coffee and food, but the quality of many celebrity coffee shops' products cannot meet consumers' expectations, and the prices are not cheap, so people only come once to support their idols and don't return for a second visit. Consequently, not many shops can actually operate long-term.

He also stated that, conversely, those coffee shops/restaurants where celebrities cooperate with others and do not use themselves as promotion will have different results. Because people come for the coffee itself, not for the celebrity, there won't be a strong sense of disappointment.

Image source: Internet

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