Animated displays in theme stores

Wu Yongsheng, the shop manager of the Conan store, has been working with Lawson for more than four years. After knowing that the Conan store was about to be opened, he applied to be transferred here.

"I knew for sure we'd get a lot of customers because there are so many Conan fans here.

"Many of them come over and take pictures, which helps boost business. We were nervous about posing for them at first, but we have gotten used to that," he says.

To better serve customers, Lawson also started a small counter selling freshly brewed coffee and oden, Japanese tidbits cooked in a miso base.

"It is hard to pass by the shop and not check it out," Wu says. "Especially those of our generation who grew up watching these comics." Wu still spends much of his days off watching anime with his girl friend.

The Conan-themed store is not the first. Last year, Lawson also started an Ultraman store, in June, and followed up with Conan five months later. Sales figures from June to December were five times that of other Lawson stores without the anime push.

Even so, the Ultraman store was closed down, a casualty of skyrocketing rental in Shanghai, a fate that threatens the Conan store as well.

But Wu says Ultraman will resurrect, although it may move to Xujiahui, an equally commercialized neighborhood with lower rents.

"Detective Conan has super high popularity in Asia and all over the world. Its healthy and positive image has no ambiguity in universal values. These explain why we have chosen this cartoon character," says Sun Jian, chief executive officer of China Shanghai Character License Administrative Corporation, the company which owns the merchandising rights for Detective Conan and Ultraman in China.

He adds that more anime-themed convenience stores will open in China soon, as his company is already in negotiations with future partners.

Lawson entered Shanghai in 1996 with a first store in the city. It now has a chain of more than 200 in Shanghai. The company says it plans to open 10,000 convenience stores all over China by 2020.

Contact the writer at shijing@chinadaily.com.cn

Fans and passers-by are attracted by the Conan-themed Lawson store in Shanghai which opened in November. Shelves are liberally decorated with posters of the manga characters. Photos by Lai Xinlin / For China Daily