Hankyu Umeda gives a Korean sweets brand its first Kansai pop-up
Hankyu Umeda's basement food hall is hosting Korean confectionery brand Yonri Hijae (ヨンリヒジェ) for its first appearance in Kansai, a week-long test of the K-sweets trend on one of Osaka's most closely watched department-store food floors.
Hankyu Hanshin Department Stores said Korean confectionery brand Yonri Hijae (ヨンリヒジェ) will open its first Kansai pop-up at Hankyu Umeda's main store, on the basement food stage, from November 4 to 10.
The brand's signature item is keseon juak (ケソンジュアク), a fried glutinous-rice sweet soaked in honey syrup that staff make in an in-store kitchen. The release names six of the eight flavours on offer, priced from ¥432 to ¥486, including a yuzu-pistachio version made exclusively for Hankyu, alongside sweet-potato, walnut, Nutella and apple-compote variations, according to the department store.
A single week is a short run even by pop-up standards, which makes this less a retail bet than a market test: if the Korean-sweets format sells through on one of Osaka's busiest department-store food floors, Hankyu Umeda has a template -- and an exclusive flavour already banked -- for a longer stay.