The Pop Mart flagship store on Oxford Street is crowded with collectors and enthusiasts looking for random box toys such as Skullpanda, Dimoo and Labubu.
Beyond just shopping, there are also people who have come from Southeast Asia and mainland Europe far away to trade Art Toys and upload unboxing videos to TikTok.
Founded in Beijing in 2010, PopMart gained fame through its unique character design and collaboration with emerging artists. Its collection of figures based on intellectual property rights, especially playful but charming, has drawn deep sympathy from enthusiasts seeking sensitivity and bond. The core attraction of PopMart lies in the random box. Consumers do not know what kind of toy they purchased until they open the box. This point is resonating greatly among Generation Z and millennials in Europe.
Influencers are posting unboxing videos on TikTok and Instagram, using Pop Mart toys as a means of identity and self-expression. Pop Mart combines Asian aesthetics with Western art to create familiar yet fresh figures. This multiculturalism has raised pop marts’ profile in Europe, attracting the attention of celebrities such as world-renowned pop star Madonna and British broadcaster Olivia Attwood.
Since opening its first store in Soho, England in 2022, PopMart has now opened stores in Oxford Street, Manchester, Westfield Stratford, Cambridge, and Birmingham, rapidly expanding across the UK. By the end of this year, it plans to operate 17 exclusive stores in the UK, excluding the Robo Shop, a popmart figure sales channel in the form of a vending machine.
According to PopMart’s European retail sales director, more than 90% of its customers in the UK are currently made up of local Britons and Europeans.
Pop Mart is gradually expanding its partnership with the local market. Scarlett Zhao, head of marketing for Pop Mart Europe, said at first, she was reluctant to introduce unfamiliar brands in luxury stores such as Harrods Department Store in the U.K. “As Pop Mart’s IP gained international recognition and its customer base expanded across Europe, we have formed long-term partnerships with leading partners,” she said.
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
