"Is This Janmang Loopy Line?" Santa Loopy Open Run Despite Severe Cold [Hipple Hot Item]

Visitors Flock to Jamsil Lotte World Mall's 'Janmang Loopy Popup' Despite Heavy Snow and Severe Cold
Hundreds Queue via QR, Crowds Fill Winding Waiting Lines
Christmas Limited Edition Goods Popular... Daily 100 Santa Loopy 'Open Run' Limited
Photo Zone Selfies Earn Sincere Attention, Fans Line Up Separately to Pose with Loopy

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] On the 15th, when heavy snow turned the Seoul metropolitan area into a 'Winter Kingdom,' the first floor of Lotte World Mall in Jamsil, Songpa-gu, Seoul was unusually lively. Most of the crowd gathered at Lotte Department Store's newly opened Janmang Loopy Christmas pop-up store, 'Holiday with Janmang Loopy', wore smiles despite the long waiting lines. From the morning of the opening day, people who learned about the event through news articles and social media filled the winding queue. This atmosphere continued throughout the pop-up, with waiting lines lasting until the cold wave hit on the afternoon of the 22nd.

The visitors to the pop-up included not only teenagers but also a considerable number of 'Eoreuni' (a portmanteau of adult and child) in their 20s and 30s. Recently, the popularity of character goods has spread to the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), causing large crowds to gather at popular character merchandise pop-ups even on weekdays.

One reason for the high popularity of this pop-up is that Christmas limited edition goods are available. The representative product is the 'Santa Loopy doll,' featuring Loopy wearing a Santa hat and hugging a Christmas tree with small hands. Priced in the 30,000 KRW range, this product is sold daily to the first 100 customers on a first-come, first-served basis, and even a week after the pop-up opened, it remains a situation where you have to 'open run' to get one. Tips for purchasing Santa Loopy are being shared online.

The Janmang Loopy illustration with the Lotte World Tower background, which emits aurora-like light depending on the angle, is also popular as a hologram tower postcard. The 'Extra-large Pajama Loopy doll,' priced over 130,000 KRW, is also sold daily with a limit of 30 units and sells out every day. 'The 'Janmang Black Rabbit keyring' sold out all prepared quantities within three days of the pop-up opening. In addition, Christmas dolls, cape blankets, 2023 poster calendars, hexagonal diaries, weekly planners, and 27 new Janmang Loopy goods including stationery and mobile accessories are popular items at this pop-up.

On the afternoon of the 22nd, when the severe cold wave was raging, visitors crowded the 'Janmang Loopy Christmas Pop-up Store' at Lotte World Mall in Jamsil, Songpa-gu, Seoul.

About half of the entire pop-up space was dedicated to a 'photo zone,' which was also crowded. They were managing the crowd by issuing separate QR code queues for goods and the photo zone to disperse visitors. Visitors took off their thick coats to the side and busily took commemorative photos with various props at the photo zone decorated with Christmas atmosphere and Janmang Loopy sculptures such as Santa Loopy, Snowman Loopy, and Rudolph Loopy.

Janmang Loopy is a sub-character of 'Loopy' from the children's animation 'Porong Porong Pororo.' It gained great popularity as 'memes' depicting school and social life episodes with Janmang Loopy's unique comical expressions resonated with many, and it became part of the play culture of people in their 10s and 30s by creating various memes along with catchphrases like 'Happy' and 'Ludadak (Loopy + Hudadak).'

The Janmang Loopy Christmas pop-up will run until the 25th on the first floor of Jamsil Lotte World Mall. It is a great place for students and office workers who are usually interested in 'desk decoration' and love characters, as well as those who want to prepare cute and non-burdensome gifts for Christmas. However, limited edition products require more effort such as lining up early to obtain, and during peak weekend hours, long waiting times may be necessary.