One Direction to the coffee shop?

In 1971 a themed chain of restaurants known the world over was founded in London. Eight years later the venue had started adorning its walls with memorabilia, a tradition which has since expanded and is replicated in its 175 premises around the world. That restaurant was, of course, Hard Rock Café.

Two decades later that premise was copied and given a cinematic twist, backed by film-legends Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger amongst others; Planet Hollywood opened.

Now, there are some new kids on the block and sadly, they are not the Boston lot who rose to prominence in the late 80s.

One Direction are following suit as reports have emerged in the British press that the global superstars are going to open a couple of themed coffee shops in strategically placed locations around the world.

The cafes will be designed to cater for the fans of One Direction, so expect lots of pink, but also expect them to take in a lot of money and bleed the pockets of parents dry in the process; plans include the shops to stock and sell a wide range of merchandise.

An insider apparently told the Daily Star that ‘everything linked to One Direction equates to success at the moment’ and given that forecasts predict that the British coffee market will continue to grow and grow over the next five years, the idea of putting two highly profitable entities together, admittedly, does make sense. We’re sure that if the plans go through there will be a lot of money to be made out of this union.

Thankfully these will not be popping up around the country. Reports are that plans are afoot to open a venue in Japan in the near future with locations in London, Berlin, Paris and New York to follow if the Shibuya coffee house is a success.

The news come after reports that the group – Harry, 20, Niall, 20, Louis, 22, Liam, 20, and Zayn, 21 – are predicted to earn £611 million this year following their Where We Are stadium tour.

Let us know in the comments box below or on twitter via @wldcoffeepress.

Update: A One Direction rep has now been quoted as saying that there are no plans to open up a 1D themed coffee shop, crushing the dream of the Directions to have a Louis Latte or a Harry Half-caf. Shame, it probably would have worked too.