When Your Favorite Idol Group Meets Your Local Convenience Store
So here is the thing about K-pop in South Korea β it does not just live on streaming platforms or in concert arenas. It is quietly taking over everyday spaces, including the convenience store you might pop into for a late-night snack. And GS25, one of South Korea's largest convenience store chains, is leaning into that shift in a big way.
On June 11, GS25 β operated by GS Retail β announced a full-scale collaboration with rising K-pop group BOYNEXTDOOR (보μ΄λ₯μ€νΈλμ΄), timed to celebrate the release of the group's first full-length studio album, titled "HOME." The partnership goes well beyond simply stocking the album on shelves. Instead, GS25 is rolling out a line of exclusive, co-branded dessert and snack products that embed the group's identity directly into everyday consumer goods.
Who Is BOYNEXTDOOR?
For those less familiar with the K-pop landscape, BOYNEXTDOOR is a six-member boy group that debuted in 2023 under KOZ Entertainment, a label affiliated with HYBE β the powerhouse agency also behind global acts like BTS. In just a couple of years, the group has built a rapidly growing international fanbase, known for their approachable, boy-next-door concept (hence the name) and emotionally relatable songwriting. "HOME," their first full studio album, marks a significant milestone in their career, and GS25 is clearly hoping to be part of that moment.
The Products: More Than Just Branded Packaging
What makes this collaboration genuinely interesting is the creativity behind the product lineup. These are not just snacks slapped with a group photo and called a day. Let's break down what GS25 is actually releasing.
The Music Lollipop β Yes, a Candy That Plays Music
The headline product is the "BOYNEXTDOOR Music Lollipop," available in peach and strawberry flavors. Here is where it gets quirky: this is a bone conduction candy. When you put the lollipop in your mouth, subtle vibrations travel through your teeth and bones to your inner ear, effectively making you "hear" BOYNEXTDOOR's new music inside your head. It is a genuinely novel concept β part snack, part sensory experience. The regular price is 6,000 Korean won, but fans who pre-order through GS25's mobile app, called "Woori Dongne GS," can grab it for 5,000 won during the reservation period.
The One-Meter Jelly
Alongside the lollipop, GS25 is releasing the "BOYNEXTDOOR Neighbor Jelly" β a jelly strip stretching a full one meter in length, priced at 2,000 won. For fans who want to stock up, a pre-order set of 10 is available at 30 percent off, bringing the bundle to 14,000 won, though quantities are limited.
The HOME Bread with Collectible Stickers
Rounding out the lineup is the "BOYNEXTDOOR HOME Bread Apple Cream," priced at 3,000 won. This one is particularly smart from a fan engagement standpoint: each package includes a random collectible sticker β called a "ddi-bu-ssil" in Korean, a term for the small, peel-off character stickers that have been a collectible staple in Korean snack culture for decades β featuring unreleased member photos. With 24 different designs in the set, the randomized nature of the sticker is practically designed to make fans buy multiple loaves.
How and When Can You Get These?
GS25 opened mobile app pre-orders for the Music Lollipop and Neighbor Jelly starting June 12 at 11 a.m. through the Woori Dongne GS app. In terms of physical availability, the HOME Bread hit nationwide offline stores on June 12, with the lollipop and jelly products set to follow on shelves from June 26 onward.
Why This Makes Business Sense for GS25
What is really interesting here is the strategic logic underpinning all of this. GS25 is not doing this collaboration on a whim β it is part of a deliberate push to turn convenience stores into cultural hubs for the 10-to-30-year-old demographic, which happens to be both the primary convenience store customer base and the core K-pop consuming audience. The overlap is almost too perfect.
And the data backs it up. GS25 has been quietly building K-pop-friendly retail environments at key locations over the past year. At its "GS25 Ground Blue 49" store in Insadong β a neighborhood in Seoul that draws heavy foot traffic from foreign tourists β the chain set up a dedicated K-pop album zone. The result? Album sales climbed to become the store's top-selling product category, overtaking longtime staples like banana milk. Similar success stories have played out at stores near Incheon Airport and at the DXLAB branch in Yeoksam, particularly around new album release windows.
In short, GS25 has already proven that K-pop fandom and convenience store retail can be a powerful combination. This BOYNEXTDOOR partnership is the next, more product-integrated step in that journey.
What the Brand Is Saying
"We prepared this collaboration so that fans can experience BOYNEXTDOOR in a more intimate and unique way, right in the everyday space of a convenience store, timed with the release of their first full album. Going forward, we will continue to roll out differentiated products that closely reflect the diverse tastes and nuanced needs of our fandom customers."
That quote comes from Jo Hyun-jeong, a manager at GS Retail's Trend Product Differentiation Team, and it pretty much sums up where the company is headed: fandom marketing is no longer a side project β it is a core strategy.
The Bigger Picture: K-Pop as a Retail Category
This collaboration is a great example of how K-pop's commercial influence has matured well beyond music sales. Intellectual property β or IP, as the industry calls it β built around artist identities is now being integrated into food and beverage products, retail experiences, and everyday consumer goods in ways that would have seemed niche just five years ago. For global audiences watching the K-pop industry evolve, moments like this signal just how deeply idol culture has woven itself into the fabric of daily life in South Korea, and increasingly, around the world.
Whether you are a long-time BOYNEXTDOOR fan or just someone curious about where K-pop marketing is heading, this GS25 collaboration is worth paying attention to. A candy that lets you hear music through your bones is, at the very least, a memorable way to make that case.
This article is based on reports from Pointe, Lawissue, Greened.
