(Yicai Global) May 17 -- South Korea's Line Friends, a family of instant messaging sticker characters that grew into a popular retail brand of toys and apparel, is shifting to a business model of pop-up stores and online operations in China.

Line Friends is about to close all its stores in China's mainland, news site Jiemian reported on May 14, citing the operator. The company had shut its last retail outlet in Shanghai, which was its first mainland store opened in 2015, on May 5.

The character brand was expanding most rapidly in China in 2016 and at one point, operated as many as 12 outlets in the country. Now only two stores remain open in the mainland, one in southwestern China's Chengdu and one in eastern Nanjing.

The brand will shift its attention to online business and intellectual property based on content, the operator told the same news source. Fans can also find some of the popular characters, including Brown, Cony, and Sally, in pop-up stores located inside commercial property in the future, it added.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi