▲ Jeong Sang-jun, CEO of Anipop

For many people growing up in the 70s and 80s, comic book stores were their dream factories. However, the advent of digital era soon afterwards swept the factories away. Luckily, the factories started to came back one by one in the name of ‘manga café’ from the early 2000 with improved ambience and snacks lines. Anipop is a manga café consulting firm and CEO Jeong Sang-jun is a pioneer of the now booming comic book industry. “I borrowed the idea from Japan in early 2000. However, Korea’s manga cafe didn’t just appear in a day but the result of the once boomed comic book stores back in the 70s and 80s. The industry saw its zenith last year starting from 2013 and this year will be a transition period. The problem is that there are too many manga cafes which are causing side effects in the market. In fact, franchising the business itself can be a nonsense considering the poor management and distribution system. So, the year 2018 will be a turning point for a healthier market” says Jeong. He emphasizes that good comic books must come first before looking good interior and delicious snacks. Because the latter two are the main causes to create bubbles in the initial capital. He points out that the business owners must remember that people go to their manga café to read exciting comic books not just eating food in a looking good café. Behind this assertion lies Jeong’s business acumen: he has opened more than 150 manga cafés nationwide for the last 16 years and the number amounts to 300 if included rental stores. But it is Jeong’s principle not to do a franchise. “Running a manga café doesn’t need a support from the head office like many franchises. But you need to obtain the quality books from an industry specialist. Newly printed books are good but vintage books are more valuable. So, you must not spare money on buying quality comic books.” If you are interested, help is at Anipop since the company provides consulting services from location of the store to supply of quality comic books as well as interior. Jeong recently introduced his own coffee brand ‘Sweet Buns’ in order to minimize the unit price of the coffee supplies. “You cannot make a success at once whichever business you are engaged in. You must carry out a thorough research on market and the revenue of each brand before making your investment. In this respect, a manga café consulting firm Anipop will certainly be of valuable help to you.” <Power Korea> ‘rewrites’ Korean article into ‘plain English’