What does the Jeju cafe fair debate say about celebrity coffee shops?

Singer Lee Hyori and husband Lee Sang-soon opened a coffee shop on Jeju Island on July 1, with no advance promotion. Fans queued more than a hundred meters for three days and products sold out in 12 minutes, prompting complaints from nearby cafe owners and public criticism from former lawmaker Jeon Yeo-ok.

Lee Sang-soon said the shop was a personal decision and that it would move to a reservation system, with him stepping back behind the scenes. The episode shows the double edge of celebrity side businesses: they can lift a commercial district, but enthusiasm can outrun quality and staying power, squeezing smaller operators nearby.

Korean singer Lee Hyori and her husband Lee Sang-soon opened a coffee shop on Jeju Island, but just three days after opening, it sparked discontent among nearby coffee shop owners due to fans queuing for over a hundred meters and products selling out in 12 minutes. Former ruling party lawmaker Jeon Yeo-ok publicly criticized the star effect for squeezing the survival space of local coffee shops. Lee Sang-soon later responded that opening the shop was purely a personal decision, and that it would switch to a reservation system and he would step back behind the scenes. The incident reflects the double-edged effect of celebrity side businesses in the coffee industry: they can boost the commercial district, but may also struggle to last due to excessive enthusiasm and a gap in quality. This article sorts through the whole incident and explores the operational dilemmas and possible paths forward for celebrity coffee shops.

Several Korean media outlets recently reported that singer Lee Hyori and her musician husband Lee Sang-soon's coffee shop on Jeju Island drew criticism from nearby coffee shop owners and a former ruling party lawmaker shortly after opening.

On July 1, the couple's coffee shop officially opened. They had not done any promotion beforehand, but netizens shared many photos with Lee Hyori on social platforms, as well as photos of Lee Sang-soon making coffee for customers, quickly attracting fans and tourists in droves.

During the first three days after opening, the queue outside the shop stretched more than a hundred meters every day, which caused dissatisfaction among nearby coffee and beverage shop operators, who then sought a former ruling party lawmaker to speak on their behalf.

On July 3, former Korean ruling party lawmaker Jeon Yeo-ok publicly posted on Facebook, criticizing Lee Hyori and her husband for opening a coffee shop on Jeju Island. She pointed out that celebrities, as public figures, can have even more influence than entrepreneurs, and that this situation was like the child of an entrepreneur opening a bakery...

"I am curious why these people want to open coffee shops? Just because coffee shops have a lower threshold than other food and beverage formats? If this continues, nearby coffee shops will probably all have to close," she said. She also stated that for the celebrity couple, opening a coffee shop on Jeju Island was just a hobby and a change of pace in life, but for many coffee shop owners on the island, it was their livelihood.

The post also mentioned that the coffee shop opened at 9 a.m., but a hundred-meter-long line was already waiting outside in the hot weather. In such high temperatures, all products in the shop sold out within 12 minutes, and it announced a temporary suspension of business... Is this really the proper operating condition for a coffee shop?

Faced with Jeon Yeo-ok's questioning, the couple did not respond, prompting widespread discussion among netizens. Although some netizens criticized the celebrity couple's coffee shop for harming nearby businesses, more netizens believed that liking music and coffee was their freedom. Moreover, theirs is not the only celebrity coffee shop on Jeju Island, so why criticize only this couple?

In response to netizens' questions, Jeon Yeo-ok posted again on the 4th. She explained that most other celebrities who open shops do not personally appear in the store, whereas Lee Hyori and her husband personally brewed coffee for customers and took photos with them, which undoubtedly drew people to visit, making it extremely unfair to other coffee shops on the island.

She also said she respected many celebrities who open restaurants or coffee shops "to make a living," because it is an attractive side business. Many celebrities have unstable incomes in the entertainment industry and use side businesses to leave themselves a way out. But Lee Hyori did not open a coffee shop to make a living. She owns multiple properties on Jeju Island and elsewhere, and now she wanted to open another shop with a "celebrity effect" on an island where coffee shop operations were already difficult. How are other coffee shops supposed to survive?

In response, Lee Sang-soon replied on the 5th via Instagram, saying the coffee shop had nothing to do with his wife and was entirely his own decision from beginning to end. He explained that he opened the coffee shop because he had long loved specialty coffee and hoped to open a place on Jeju Island that could combine with music creation and bring together people with similar tastes, which was why he had not promoted it externally.

He also said that because he lacked experience in running a coffee shop and was not good at dealing with many people, the shop was very small. On the first day of opening, his wife and friends came to celebrate, so he personally brewed coffee, and his wife also agreed to take photos. In order not to disturb other residents and shops, he planned not to stay in the store serving customers during business hours afterward, and would mainly step behind the scenes to handle overall operations and music creation.

Regarding the opening situation, Lee Sang-soon said the coffee shop would not be open to the public for the next two days and would implement a reservation system starting on the 7th, and that other baristas in the shop would also do their best to provide customers with the best coffee. In response to Lee Sang-soon's post, the comment section was full of support. Netizens said that opening a coffee shop was Lee Sang-soon's personal freedom and that they did not understand why a former ruling party member would criticize it.

In Korea, Lee Hyori and her husband are not the only celebrities who have gone to Jeju Island to open coffee shops; many celebrities have opened restaurants and coffee shops there. According to analysis by some Korean media, for entertainers, starting a coffee shop has a lower threshold and requires less capital, making it very attractive as a side business. At the same time, a celebrity opening a shop can bring more foot traffic to the nearby commercial district...

However, a real estate executive pointed out that although celebrity coffee shops or restaurants sometimes elevate an area into a new commercial zone, they can also disturb local residents and other businesses because of fans' excessive enthusiasm. Celebrity fame brings strong marketing effects, but it also easily drags them into various public opinion controversies... On the one hand, the celebrity is not always in the store; on the other hand, product prices carry a premium because of the celebrity halo, making it hard for customers to keep spending over the long term.

Therefore, many celebrity shops are packed during the first month or two after opening, and then business turns cold, especially coffee shops. Coffee shops ultimately depend on the taste of the coffee and food, but many celebrity coffee shops' products fail to meet consumers' expectations, while the prices are not cheap, causing people to stop visiting after supporting their idol once. So there are actually not many shops that can truly operate for the long term.

He also said that, by contrast, coffee shops or restaurants where celebrities cooperate with others and do not use themselves as a promotional gimmick will have different results. This is because customers come for the coffee itself, not the celebrity, so there will not be a strong sense of disappointment.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.