Mom's Touch Tokyo pop-up store visitors exceed 30,000

South Korean homegrown burger and chicken brand Mom's Touch & Co. announced on Friday its pop-up store in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan successfully concluded a three-week operation with a total of over 33,000 visitors.

The company's first overseas pop-up store "Mom's Touch Tokyo" opened on Oct. 20. Its seats were all reserved for the entire three weeks. Visitors were in front of the door of the pop-up store to line up, the so-called “open run," at 10 a.m. The average number of visitors was 70, with a maximum of 120 walk-in customers. They waited for over two hours each day. 

The nationality breakdown of visitors was 77% Japanese, 15% Korean, and 8% other, with the local population overwhelmingly dominating.

Mom's Touch actively attracted customers with value for money. The Psy Burger single item at the Tokyo pop-up store was priced at 370 yen ($2.44), and a combo menu including fries and a drink was priced at 680 yen ($4.49). During the event period, more than 22,000 flagship burgers such as Psy Burger and Grilled Beef Burger were sold, along with over 20,000 pieces of fried chicken.

Having confirmed the potential for success in Japan, Mom's Touch plans to find a local partner to operate a store locally and finalize the contract by the end of the year.

"The master franchise contract, which involves granting business and trademark rights to a local company in exchange for fees and royalties, is likely, but we are also considering a joint venture," a Mom's Touch source said. 

Mom's Touch currently has expanded in Thailand and Mongolia. In Thailand, where the company entered in April last year, it operates five stores. In Mongolia, where it signed a master franchise agreement with a local company in April, it plans to open its second store this month.

Write to Hun-Hyoung Ha at hhh@hankyung.com