Have you seen the TikTok’s and Instagram posts about the new Studio Ghibli Pop-Up Store (Nov ’25)? Well we had to go and check it out, here’s what we found…
On the first really cold Monday of the year we headed away from the crowds of stupid on Oxford St and caught a bus to Brompton Road in Knightsbridge. Just past Harrod’s in-between two of the many restaurants that scatter along the road in this affluent part of the Capital, we found a queue of about 30-40 people snaking back and forth outside a little shop. A number of students and a lot of French people standing about waiting to be allowed entry into the Pop-Up Ghibli Experience. The latest Pop up that Time Out was raving about and all the influencers on social media were there for the first day of opening.
The windows are adorned with giant plushies of Totoro and The Kiki’s Cat .
The press and influencer’s posts on the shop showcased prices that looked sensible and ample stock. Bob really wanted a Calcifer Plushie, but like most of her choices, they aren’t the popular ones and so they are rarely the product that is offered, so this seemed the perfect time to get one.
We joined the queue and waited for about 15 minutes, shuffling along closer and closer to the door, looking in the window at the possibilities. We were admitted as another couple exited holding two large paper bags filled with stuff.
Inside was packed with people all shuffling around shelves packed with soft toys and notepads, pencils and cutlery, straightaway Bob spotted the elusive Calcifer, a palm sized plushie and was about to move on, eager to see what else was around to add to the collection, when she turned it over to check the price – something most of the clientele clearly were not doing – and was stunned at the £18 tag. Replacing the toy to the shelf and moving on, hoping that others were cheaper.
Alas this was not the case. There was a basket filled with The Dust Mites from Spirited Away, tiny little black fur balls with eyes, for £15 each, a pencil with a Totoro on the top £18, a Kiki’s Delivery Notepad for £18, Postcards for £15 each, but these were the ordinary things. The wax seal with the Ghibli logo on the stamp was £65, the statues of Poco Loco and Mononoke’s Wolf were well over £100 each, The scarves were £25 as were the phone cases.
We walked around lifting the price tag and shaking our heads, while people around us were filling baskets with as much as they could fit in. The till sang their happy tune taking hundreds of pounds at a time off of people who clearly do not even know what a price tag is! Clearly the location was an apt choice, Knightsbridge is the perfect place to have this Pop-Up, where nothing is too expensive, where a coffee could cost you £20 and a medium sized plushie would be £85.
But it was at the back of the shop, a small section of shelving with some plates on, that made us stop and stare, then decide enough was enough and it was time to leave. On the shelf was a single tea-cup and saucer, nothing unique, there were boxes and boxes of them behind, but in front of the cup was a price tag of £66 per cup – PER CUP!
We left without any purchases and talked as we headed back to the tube, passing Harrod’s and being bumped and pushed into by far too many self entitled idiots, as we walked we talked, the opening day videos all showed different scenario, 2 plushies for £12, pen and pad sets for £8 and Postcards were something like 6 for £16. Clearly the marketing team worked their magic for the influencers and press, making sure they showed all the bargains, then on day 2 the prices went up to what we found. Some of the prices weren’t disgusting, like the Postcards and pencil cases, but they were still too much to justify.
So Bob is still without her Calcifer Plushie and we still don’t have a life sized Totoro Plushie in the Living Room!
Have you been? Did you buy anything? We will be back next time with another post about something to do in London, or some other interest of ours, we hope you will join us then!
Climbing Moss 