Jellycat Café Pop-Up Comes to China World Mall. Is It Worth It?
On Sep 20, British luxury soft toy company Jellycat launched their pop-up Café at China World Mall. According to the somewhat elusive information I could find online, it will stay put at China World Mall until the end of this month, save a potential extension on popularity grounds. Because boy, has the Jellycat Café been popular! And you know, dear reader, it's funny to me that the brand chose to set up shop at this exclusive mall, right in between Jintaixizhao and Guomao. After all, I first got acquainted with Jellycat at a night market there a few years ago. Hardly anything in that mall is cheap, and this was no exception. On my first tête-a-tête with Jellycat, I thought to myself: 1. aww, and 2. there's no way anyone's spending a minimum of RMB 200 for these adorable teddies to all end up at the loving, rough mercy of young kids. So who's the demographic for Jellycat?
If you ask me? Grown-ass adults, mostly. And good for them. Finding the good in our current times often proves a little challenging (gestures dramatically at the world). But one thing I've noticed lately is that we've become much more accepting of the little quirks and whimsies that make our adult lives even an ounce happier – even when they're a tad childish. Listen, I am not saying that little Timmy Rockefeller won't get a pricey stuffed bear under the Christmas tree this year. What I am saying is cuteness sells remarkably well in East Asia (and dare I say further abroad, too), and Jellycat features prominently in r/plushies (typically in herds). Last but not least, goodness gracious, my own bed is lined with cheap soft toys. So, when a high-end, ridiculously niche iteration of said cuteness shows up on the shelves of accordingly upscale stores, and you can get yourself a plushie in the shape of a Camembert wedge, a toilet paper roll or a Parisian macaron, forgive me if I suspect that it's your inner child seeking their loving companionship at the expense of your monthly paycheck.
But I digress. Jellycat Café! China World Mall! I wanted to visit as soon as I found out by sheer chance, and silly me, I thought it was a mere matter of showing up and walking in. Hah. Wrong. Booking ahead of time is required. Okay, easy peasy. Go to the brand's WeChat mini program (search: Jellycat) ... Ah, they also had a pop-up in Shanghai, which finished on Oct 12 (more on that in a minute). Okay, Beijing. Scroll down the booking screen ... okay, my name, my phone ... and a date I choose ... oh? Everything's full?
Jesus may have promised the thief on the cross that today he would be with him in paradise, but God knows nobody can guarantee that you'll get to visit the darn Jellycat Café. And how many chances will you get? I got mine alright, and here's what you need to know. There's no official closing date that has been stated by Jellycat on any of their official channels. What we do have is a calendar for the month of October, marking Tuesdays at noon as the dates on which booking opens for the next few days. So if we consider that Shanghai's pop-up last opened bookings on Oct 6 and later bid farewell to the city on Oct 12, I'd wager that Beijing's own Jellycat Café will finish at the end of October, because tomorrow (Oct 21) is the last day that bookings will open for the remainder of the month. At the time of writing this, there were slots for Oct 20, 21 and 22, with the whole operation being open from 10am to 9.30pm. However, tomorrow, more bookings will open up, so I hope that helps!
So anyway, what's the Jellycat Café about? Coffee, sweet treats and of course lots of plushies? Well ... no. Squeal or groan, but as it turns out, there's no actual food and drinks at the venue. Instead, it's this kind of interactive experience where you first tour a showcase of soft toys. Then it's time to whip out your purse at the cashier. Finally, the (pretend) café portion starts! At the second and final room of the Jellycat Café, a crew of smiley waiters and waitresses will “prepare” your purchase for “consumption”: You can have them sprinkle imaginary sugar atop your choice of Jellycat, or if you're more of a pretend cream person, they'll douse it on your plushie, too. Hell, they will sing Happy Birthday to you if they must. I heard them do as much – thrice. I wonder how frequent an occurrence it is throughout the day, and the thoughts that lurk in the intimacy of their minds with each encore. But sure, tell me this is all for kids.
Anyway, I paid my visit on Mon, Oct 13, and here are my impressions. Reservations happen in one-hour slots, but the profuse set of rules at the entrance determines that shoppers shouldn't linger for longer than fifteen minutes in the actual café. Though they may not enforce it strictly, depending on how busy it gets, the 60-minute slots are there to account for the compulsory queueing. Do be sure to arrive a bit early; China World Mall is large and can be a bit confusing to navigate if you're not entirely familiar with the layout. At the entrance, I was handed a hand basket by the staff, and thus my tour of the Jellycat Café began.
There are five stars to the show here, as listed in the order form that you get, marked with your customer number: the Leola Bear with Strawberry Cake (RMB 439), the Amuseables Vividdy Teapot (RMB 439), the Amuseables Ool and Ong Teacups (RMB 399), the Amuseables Berrity Latte (RMB 399) and the Amuseables Melbie Peach Cake (RMB 399). They will be packed as a gift set with one product badge, one limited sticker, one custom package and one special gift bag. There is a limit of one item per customer on these special items, probably to avoid excessive pillage from scalpers and purchasing agents and otherwise maintain exclusivity. Judging from the full bags that some of those who preceded me carried, though, you're free to shop till you drop from the rest of the collection on display.
There was an adorable Blushkin Blossom Luxe Bunny (RMB 399), which, if I understood correctly, was a limited edition item for Beijing. And if the bunny's what got you here, you might as well splurge for the big one, because the keyring version was nowhere near as cute and decidedly not worth the whopping RMB 259. Here, it's worth (hah!) mentioning that the word that comes to mind with this whole experience is “priorities.” Don't get me wrong: I loved most of the toys on display at the Jellycat Café. There was a Christmas gingersnap series ... a raclette, a log of goat cheese, a mozzarella ball ... eggs ... a pistachio ... a latte cup ... vegetables galore ... flower bouquets ... all very cute, all indescribably soft. But the cheapest ones (any of the non-bunny keyrings) started from RMB 190, which, if you can? And you really want to? By all means, go ahead. But I just couldn't justify burning a hole in my wallet for any of these at this particular moment in time. Simply because I have other priorities.
And because I wasn't buying anything, I was not allowed to access the café part of the shop. No hard feelings; empty-handers would probably tamper with the smooth traffic in what is otherwise a pretty small area, and take away from the experience for paying customers. Just maybe save yourself the booking if you think you won't buy a thing? I've also seen iterations of the whole pretend experience with no-name toy brands at random times in Beijing, and they were just as fun, let alone way more reasonably priced, even if the toys were not the same quality. This year has seen an explosion of the plush keyring trend, so there's no shortage of cuties to choose from.
If anyone from Jellycat is reading this, look: Your plushies are lovely, and I may actually end up splurging on a bunny at some point. For anyone at large reading this and finding they're going to succumb to the temptation, China World Mall is also home to the (permanent) FAO Schwartz toy store, which has a far wider collection of Jellycat, and then several other brands, at an all-encompassing range of prices. Many of them are dangerously soft and entirely too adorable; I should not be left alone with that Bunnies by the Bay stand, with the flock of tiny sheep and an entire wardrobe ready for them on display. So, you've always got options, and there's no shame in any of them. But do remember: All toys spring up to dance at midnight.
Jellycat Cafe Pop-Up
1/F Atrium, China World Mall South Zone, Chaoyang District
朝阳区国贸商城南区一层中庭
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Images courtesy of Ana Padilla Fornieles, Weibo
