Not your grandma's stationery shop: Artbox's cute products corner market with tourists, young people

A two-story shop in Myeongdong on Monday was filled with tourists browsing shelves, some with mini baskets full of things to buy. This is what you’d expect to see at shops that carry K-beauty staples. This store, however, sells stationery.

Artbox store in Myeongdong in central Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

A two-story shop in Myeongdong, central Seoul, on Monday was filled with tourists browsing shelves, some with mini baskets full of things to buy. A sight like this is what you’d expect to see at stores like Olive Young, Daiso or shops that carry K-beauty staples. This store, however, sells a different type of product entirely: stationery.

Artbox has been around for many years, usually located near universities or populated areas, but it was not necessarily a shopping hot spot for young Koreans or tourists. To many Koreans, Artbox was just another store that sold stationery at a higher price than its competitors.

However, many Artbox stores, like the one in Myeongdong, tell a different story. Thanks to its wide range of products — pens with cute designs, random box items, stickers, diaries, lifestyle products and even K-pop albums — young Koreans and tourists alike have turned the Artbox into a popular destination.

“I bought these pens and the gatcha [random box] items from Artbox; it’s very cute,” said James, who visited Korea for his vacation. James noted that while the products were not “cheap,” they were relatively affordable for travel souvenirs and as gifts he could give to his friends.

Artbox store in Myeongdong in central Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

The two-story Artbox building was packed with all kinds of items, including a variety of K-pop albums, Japanese mechanical pencils and pens, fidget toys and character merchandise created in collaboration with franchises like Pinkfong, Genshin, Zanmang Loopy, Sanrio’s Hello Kitty and Hatsune Miku.

Both the company’s recent financial data and the increased number of new stores that have recently opened tell a story of success with Artbox’s target demographic. The company's revenue, which sat at 184.9 billion won ($128 million) in 2022, rose to 224.3 billion won in 2023 and to 247.9 billion won last year. Artbox practically doubled its brick-and-mortar store count, from 119 in 2020 to 218 as of December 2025, and said it would be opening two to three stores every month in 2026.

The company said the revenue from stores with a lot of foreign visitors — in Myeongdong, Hongdae in western Seoul and Garosugil in Gangnam District as well as shops near Gangnam Station — has been consistently increasing over the years, and that the company will be looking to areas with similar tourist pull to “strategically” open more stores. They also noted that tourists tend to buy more products that feature Korean characters and have a preference for stationery products with Hangul designs.

“Small keyrings, pouches, socks and plushies are popular among foreigners, but gatcha items are also increasing in popularity,” Artbox told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

However, for many young Koreans, Artbox rose as the store that offers things they can't find elsewhere.

Artbox store in Myeongdong in central Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

Daiso may offer pens, diaries and other daily necessities at a much lower price, but many of them are either nonbranded, simple items that just work, or brand collaborations with minimal design touches, which is not necessarily what young Koreans are looking for. Similarly, Miniso offers a wide range of character-collaborated items, but they have a heavy emphasis on plushies and keyrings, which is different from the offerings at Artbox.

“There’s a ton of stationery brands in Artbox that I like, and I also buy a lot of diaries, letter papers and notebooks with unique designs,” Hong Doo-na, an Artbox customer, said. Hong said she first started visiting Artbox stores frequently in 2023 and currently goes to Artbox at least once a week to buy pen refills, mechanical pencils and notebooks. This time, she had purchased diaries for the new year.

Artbox store in Myeongdong in central Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

While buying stationery online in bulk may be cheaper, she said she prefers Artbox because she doesn't like to stock up on items and instead buys them when she needs them.

“Artbox also has a lot of letter paper with neat design touches that are not easily found in other stationery stores,” Hong said.

Artbox’s traditional competitors — Morning Glory, Alpha and local stationery shops — have all seen declines over the years for different reasons. For local corner store stationery shops, the focus on stationery needed in school and the falling birthrate led to closures. For large stationery chains Morning Glory and Alpha, focus shifted to office supplies, and boring, functional products became the main sellers.

Artbox attributed its success not to a specific lineup of products but to the recent change in direction of the company.

The company also said it rotates products in and out of its brick-and-mortar stores quickly to match the speed of consumer trends fueled by online shopping.

“We’ve been operating our stores with the aim of not just staying a stationary store but a place where customers can find new preferences and enjoy,” Artbox said, noting that they have been adding more character collaboration products and seasonal items to create a store where “customers walk in just to have a look and leave after purchasing at least one item.”

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]