One Direction are set to launch their own café chain.
The ‘Kiss You’ hitmakers will reportedly provide a meeting place for crazed fans by setting up a string of coffee shops filled with band memorabilia, and the bid to expand their empire could see the first branch opening in Shibuya, Japan as early as this month.
Insiders told the Daily Star newspaper: "The cafés will be very child friendly for younger fans and they’re sure to be stocked up with lots of 1D merchandise. It could become one of the group’s biggest money-spinners if it takes off. Everything linked to One Direction equates to success at the moment."
Its thought the lucrative new business venture is highly favoured by mentor Simon Cowell, who hopes to open a second branch in London, before opening several more in New York, Paris, Berlin and Sydney.
The source added: "This could become the lads’ version of Planet Hollywood. That chain was backed by stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger when it launched in 1991."
The news come after reports that the boys – Harry Styles, 20, Niall Horan, 20, Louis Tomlinson, 22, Liam Payne, 20, and Zayn Malik, 21 – are predicted to earn £611 million this year following their ‘Where We Are’ stadium tour which kicks off on April 25, in Columbia.