29 Japanese brands, including Hobonichi and Ashford, on display 29CM diary sales up 63% from January through August Platform eyes broader push to discover and introduce overseas brands "Konnichiwa!" 29CM opened a new chapter in South Korea's stationery market Wednesday, launching the "29CM×Loft 'Page to Pages'" pop-up store in Seongdong-gu, Seoul at 11 a.m. Loft is Japan's leading stationery and lifestyle goods retailer. Tickets for some of the pop-up's peak time slots sold out within three days. The pop-up space quickly filled with visitors. The first floor brought together 29 Japanese stationery brands — 14 of which had never been available through any domestic online or offline channel. Ballpoint pens, stickers, notebooks and masking tape in every color packed the shelves, and shoppers could be heard exclaiming "So cute!" as they picked up item after item. The Japanese brands sent their own staff to the pop-up. Employees wore badges reading "Korean may be difficult for me" and greeted visitors with halting Korean hellos alongside cheerful "Konnichiwa"s. Shoppers at the booths pulled out translation apps to decode the Japanese product descriptions. One of the first brands to catch the eye was Hobonichi, a Japanese diary brand. Japanese stationery brands typically unveil their next-year diaries on Sept. 1, and Hobonichi was no exception. Ashford, a system diary brand known for its interchangeable inserts, also drew steady crowds. Some of its leather products reached 170,000 won ($124). Ashford staff handled the merchandise with white gloves, presenting each piece with the care of a luxury goods retailer. Kim Hyo-rim, 26, a stationery influencer known online as "Deer," said she had been waiting ever since she heard Loft was coming to Korea. "Loft has long been considered a mecca for stationery lovers," she said. "It was great to see products touched by Japanese artists and to get a look at next year's diaries." The second floor was given over to 10 Korean brands. Products reflecting the "text hip" trend — book covers, bookmarks and the like — lined the displays. Oimu showcased bookmarks made from nobang, the traditional silk lining fabric used in hanbok, and covered a wall with button-shaped magnets available exclusively at the pop-up. Japanese brand staff who had traveled to Korea for the event also filled their own shopping bags with Korean products. Tang, 35, who works at Hobonichi, held up a tote bag and book pouch she had bought. "Korean brand products have prettier patterns and colors than Japanese brands," she said. In the 29CM experience zone, visitors could make their own custom bookmarks. Customers who spent 50,000 won or more were also offered an engraving service, letting them stamp a message of their choice onto a notebook. 29CM's decision to bring Korean and Japanese stationery brands together reflects the category's strong growth. Cumulative transaction volume for stationery and office supplies on 29CM rose more than 48 percent year-on-year from January through August. Diary and planner sales climbed more than 63 percent, while the "text hip" trend helped push transactions for book accessories — bookmarks, book covers and the like — up 30 percent over the same period. At the Iguhome Seongsu flagship store alone, stationery product sales topped 100,000 units during the same stretch. The next chapter for 29CM is overseas brand discovery. The platform plans to get ahead of the curve by identifying competitive brands from abroad and introducing them to domestic customers, building touchpoints that span both online and offline channels.