Line Corp., the Japanese subsidiary of South Korea's top portal provider Naver Corp., is expanding its global reach with its sticker character business as a new growth driver, in the hopes it will prop up weakening profits from its flagship messenger platform, industry sources said Thursday.

Line, the operator of the mobile messenger app LINE, is opening a new Line Friends Store in Sendai next month, a major city north of Tokyo, according to the company. It is the second shop to be launched in Japan after the Harajuku branch that opened last December.

Line has run a few pop-up shops in Japan that sold accessories made with its sticker characters, also known as emoji, that appear in the namesake messenger, but it is now seeking to open more regular stores in light of their growing popularity.

The new Sendai store will have over 600 products on display, ranging from stationery, dolls and tableware made in collaboration with famous brands such as Swarovski and Moleskine, the company said.

Line has been pushing its character business since the mobile chat app, whose revenue is mostly generated from advertising, has not been enough to serve as a solid revenue source over the long term.

Line reported 27.8 billion yen ($224.4 million) in operating profit for the second quarter, down from 28.1 billion yen three months earlier. Its advertising sales dropped after three consecutive quarters of growth.

In a bid for further expansion, the messenger app operator is speeding up the emoji business in China as well, and has plans to set up additional Line Friends Stores in Beijing, Dalain -- a coastal city in the northeast -- and Cheongdu in the southwest.

It is also scheduled to open its first regular store in Hong Kong next Friday.

Line currently operates eight regular stores and six pop-up shops in Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan, according to the company. (Yonhap)