Pop Mart aims to capitalize on success with Beijing theme park

Popular Chinese toy producer Pop Mart announced earlier this month that it will build a theme park in Beijing as part of efforts to expand its business.

The park will be built in a 30,000-square-meter area of Beijing's Chaoyang Park. "Its feasibility study and conceptual design have been completed, and designers are working on an architectural scheme for it," said a representative of the project management team.

In collaboration with suppliers of the world's leading theme parks, such as Disney Resorts and Universal Resorts, Pop Mart aims to construct a popular culture park integrating toys and immersive experiences, the representative said.

Pop Mart was founded in 2010. Its main products are mystery boxes of small figurines and toys.

Each is packed randomly in a sealed box so that consumers, who do not know the contents, will have a sense of surprise and expectation and be tempted to buy.

Pop Mart has created a series of adorable and exquisite figurines using intellectual property licensing agreements with many influential artists worldwide. These figurines, often associated with different themes such as animals and festivals, are popular among the younger generation.

Statistics showed that Pop Mart sold more than 50 million mystery boxes in 2020, each priced at about $9 to $15.

As of September, the innovation-driven company operated a total of 250 retail stores and 1,687 vending machines in more than 100 cities around China. Its revenue rose by 116.8 percent year-on-year to 1.77 billion yuan ($278 million) in the first half of 2021.

The key to Pop Mart's success is its IP, said industry insiders, with 93 figurine characters copyrighted by the company as of June 2020, including 12 original ones.

Unlike famous animated characters, such as Minions and Baymax, most of the company's characters lack a backstory to attract consumers and establish deeper emotional connections with them.

This is one of the major challenges for Pop Mart in developing the park, an industry analyst said.

In addition, a popular theme park requires greater coordination among multiple departments such as supply chain management, performance and marketing, which will also test the abilities of the company, the expert said.

Pop Mart has accelerated its expansion since 2020 when it invested in an art gallery, a headset manufacturer and a brand of traditional Chinese apparel.

Also, the company has invested in a Wuhan-based animation company in September, which is regarded by some analysts as an important step to animate its characters in the future.