The UK’s National Gallery is expanding licensing to international markets with plans for a café in South Korea and the hiring of agents in Japan and the U.S.

Licensee Infiniss will open a 2,000-sq.-ft. café in a mall in Seoul, South Korea this month, stocking it with prints and signs promoting the National Gallery, says JELC’s Julie Williams, whose agency represents the agency. In addition, the café will feature a menu that highlights the National Gallery. Infiniss is expected to open a second location in 2019.

The café also will feature locally sourced food under the National Gallery’s “Delicious Art” sub-brand. The sub-brand has been used in the UK for food and beverage, including champagne (Baron-Fuente Group), gin (Foxdenton Estate) and truffles (Prestat), which have featured the works of Jean-Marc Nattier, George Stubbs and Claude Monet on the labels. The National Gallery has about 40 licensees in the UK.

As it seeks to expand internationally, the National Gallery has signed Copyrights Asia to represent it in Japan and is finalizing an agreement with its first U.S. agent, says Williams. In Japan, licensee Sync Global has launched cellphone covers. In the U.S., it plans to deploy the brand across gift items and home goods, including tabletop, says Williams.

Contact:

JELC, Julie Williams, Director, +44 1225819030, julie@jelc.co.uk