(Image: Kpop Nara Seattle)
(Image: Kpop Nara Seattle)
By Isabel Smith, UW News Lab/Special to CHS
The first store in Seattle exclusive to K-pop music and culture is celebrating a grand opening on Capitol Hill this weekend.
Fans of the popular music originating in South Korea are going delulu* about the opening of Kpop Nara Seattle on E Pine.
(* Don’t blame Isabel for trying to squeeze some K-pop slang into this sentence. Blame the CHS editor.)
“I was so excited that there was a store quite literally a few minutes walk away from me,” Kayla Pham, a K-pop fan living in Capitol Hill and studying at Seattle University, said.
Kpop Nara, a K-pop merchandise chain with locations in New England and the Midwest, is the first store in Seattle exclusively dedicated to K-pop merchandise.
The store is located at the corner of E Pine and Summit sharing the block with some fun neighbors — Gamma Ray Games, the Raygun Lounge, and the Neko Capitol Hill cat cafe. It replaces the US flagship store of Australian footwear designer Frankie4 Shoes after the company opted to continue on in the Bellevue Square Mall — not in Pike/Pine.
Kpop Nara’s grand opening days are Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM to 7 PM.
Fans say Kinokuniya in the International District is the only store in Seattle besides a few department stores that sells K-pop merchandise, although not exclusively. For Seattle residents, the closest store exclusively dedicated to K-pop is the KPOP Station in Tukwila
“I think Capitol Hill is a perfect central location for a K-pop store in Seattle, and it feels long overdue,” Carly Crooks, a Seattle resident who dances for the K-pop cover group, THE KOMPANY, said. She is also excited about a diverse selection of albums that Kpop Nara stocks.
“Stores like Kpop Nara often carry albums and merchandise for groups that are less well known than the ones you’ll find at chain stores, which is exciting for me as someone whose tastes aren’t the most mainstream,” she said.
The owners have high hopes for the store.
“The K-pop fan community in Seattle has been dearly supportive of us during our two weeks of soft-opening,” Lina Yi and YK Lee, the owners of Kpop Nara Seattle said. “We really look forward to paying it back to the community with a great time this weekend!”
The store carries K-pop albums, official merchandise and concert lightsticks from newer groups like TXT and NewJeans and older groups like Super Junior and 2PM.
The owners said the grand opening will feature discounts, a raffle and a Korean-style photo booth located inside the store.
Kpop Nara Seattle owners said they hope that the store will become a community space for local K-pop fans by hosting events at the store or in collaboration with other Seattle businesses.
Kpop Nara Seattle is located at 501 E Pine. Follow @kpopnaraseattle for updates.
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