“Blind box” toymaker Pop Mart, which has seen frenzied sales worldwide for products related to its ugly-cute Labubu character, opened its first jewellery store in Shanghai last week.
The jewellery concept store, called Popop, sells accessories adorned with Pop Mart’s top-selling characters, including Labubu, Molly and Skullpanda.
While Chinese consumption remains subdued in the face of a prolonged property downturn and sluggish economy, Pop Mart’s affordable and adorable toys have remained in high demand both at home and abroad, driving its share price up more than 200 per cent so far this year.
Investor Zhang Zhanming, who owns Pop Mart stocks worth 100 million yuan (US$13.92M), flew from his base in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing for the opening to check out the new store type and decide whether to increase his shareholding in the company.
“I believe that the pricing and target audience for this brand are particularly well-suited and I am confident that Pop Mart could potentially become China’s version of Disney,” Zhang said, predicting that the company’s market cap could double from its current US$45.65bn valuation.
