How China’s brands are thriving in the US despite rising geopolitical tensions

Chinese brands like Pop Mart are winning over American consumers by projecting a global image and targeting niche markets The Cry Me an Ocean plush toys sat as forlornly as their name implied inside the Stoneridge Shopping Centre in the San Francisco suburb of Pleasanton. The Chinese brand Pop Mart had placed a “Robo Shop” vending machine stuffed with the small dolls on a walkway inside the mall, but passers-by barely gave them a second glance. Yet across the country, it was a different story. At Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Pop Mart is popular enough that a bevy of students has signed up for the recently formed Art and Business Club just for a chance to collaborate with the brand, according to club founder Madeline Wang. While blind-box retail has existed for decades, Pop Mart has taken it “to another level”, Wang said, though she acknowledged that “most people” in the United States might not be fans of the brand’s designs.

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