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. A few shoppers said they vaguely recalled hearing the brand’s name somewhere, and one even name-checked Pop Mart’s viral Labubu figurines . But not a single person scanned the machine’s QR code to see what the machine would spit out. The club’s success reflects the enthusiasm for Pop Mart among Gen-Z Americans, who like the brand’s merchandise aesthetics and “blind box” sales strategy , said Wang, a rising second-year student majoring in applied economics and management. 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.