POP MART confirms first Welsh store opening in Cardiff on June 19

The first Welsh POP MART store will open in Cardiff on June 19, giving collectors in Wales and the West Country their first local chance to buy Labubu at retail instead of trekking to London, Birmingham or Manchester. The shop will sit on the upper level of the Grand Arcade at St David’s Cardiff, near River Island and Zara, a placement that should turn launch day into a clear test of how deep the appetite for Labubu still runs.

St David’s Cardiff is calling it the first-ever Welsh POP MART, and the store will carry the brand’s best-known blind-box lines, including The Monsters, HIRONO and SKULLPANDA. For Labubu fans, that means the opening is not just another mall arrival. It is a new official doorway into one of the most chased characters in designer toys, with the possibility of opening-day queues, fast sell-through and no guarantee that every series will last long on shelf.

Labubu’s appeal stretches well beyond Cardiff. POP MART describes the character as a kind-hearted creature from The Monsters series, created by Kasing Lung and inspired by Nordic myths. The collaboration dates to 2019, building on Labubu’s first appearance in Kasing Lung’s picture books in 2015, and that timeline helps explain why the figure has become central to POP MART’s global retail strategy rather than just a niche drop for blind-box regulars.

The timing also matters because Cardiff has already shown how quickly Labubu stock can disappear. WalesOnline reported last summer that shoppers queued down the street for Labubu dolls in Cardiff, and a limited drop sold out in just 20 minutes. That history is why opening-day planning matters now: collectors aiming to avoid reseller prices will want to arrive early, watch for any special opening rules, and move quickly if the store’s first wave of stock is limited.

Buying from the new store also gives buyers a cleaner route past the counterfeit market. POP MART says products purchased through its official sales channels are authentic and verifiable through its authenticity-check system, a detail that carries real weight as Labubu demand keeps pushing more copies and resale listings into circulation. The Cardiff opening lands as POP MART expands fast, with more than 570 stores and 2,500 ROBOSHOPs across 30 countries, London set as its European headquarters and seven more UK stores on the way. For Welsh collectors, though, the immediate story is simpler: June 19 will be the first day a Labubu run can begin in Cardiff, and the first people through the door may decide how long the rest wait.