To all the “anik anik” guys and dolls, there’s a new Pop Mart pop-up store in the metro.
After a three-month stint at SM Mall of Asia, Pop Mart opened a new location — this time at SM Makati.
Located on the third-floor concourse of the mall’s atrium, the phenomenal pop culture brand is once again captivating the hearts of Filipino collectors with blind boxes and figurines of the most famous Pop Mart characters: Labubu, Molly, Crybaby, Hirono, Skullpanda, Dimoo and much more.
“I think Labubu is famous here in the Philippines,” Jeremy Lee, Pop Mart Southeast Asia market director, told DAILY TRIBUNE.
In 2015, artist Kasing Lung created a fairy world in three picture books inspired by Nordic mythology and populated it with characters, good and bad. Among them was Labubu, a small monster with pointed ears and serrated teeth.
Other characters found at the pop-up store are Molly, Kubo, Hacipupu, Nyota, Lil Peach Riot, and Sanrio characters in pop cubes and the Demon Slayer Birth Flower series, to name a few.
“The one that is very specific and special to the Philippines is Hirono. There’s a huge market here,” Lee said.
He added that there are plans to bring Lang, the Chinese artist behind the character of Hiro, to the Philippines.
“We are also working hard to make sure at some point that we will get him to visit the Philippines,” Lee added.
After this pop-up, Lee hinted Pop Mart’s permanent stores. He said, “We’re working very closely with SM malls to do that.”
Pop Mart currently has three global flagship stores: Shanghai, China, Taipei, Taiwan and Seoul, South Korea. They opened up more shops in the Southeast Asian region last year, one of which was the pop-up on the second floor of the North Entertainment Mall in SM Mall of Asia.
Pop Mart SM Makati, will be open until 30 April.