An Exclusive Look At The BoxLunch Pop-Up Store And 10th Anniversary Merchandise
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CultureSlate was invited to the special 10th anniversary pop-up BoxLunch Bodega that happened on the Friday of New York Comic Con. We were able to chat with Rick Vargas, who is the Senior Vice President of Merchandise and Marketing for BoxLunch. We talked about BoxLunch’s impact over the past 10 years and what the brand has in store for the future. The Bodega also highlighted some of the special 10th anniversary merchandise, most notably the varsity jackets themed to the major studios that house the most iconic IPs that make up the BoxLunch merchandise line.
CS: Tell us a little bit about the products that you have here and where fans can expect to find them.
Rick: This product is an homage to our 10th anniversary. These jackets are very special. We only did very limited runs for each studio partner that we have that are very close to us. You’ll see that it pretty much represents the majority of our big studio partnerships, and we partnered with them so they could tell their story through the product. If they're online, they'll be available. There's a very select group of stores that will have them as well, but online is the best place to find them.
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Image Source: CultureSlate
CS: How did this pop-up come to be?
Rick: We were looking for something that would amplify our 10th anniversary. And what better than to be the same weekend as New York Comic Con to showcase our partnerships with the studios? It was a great idea from our Senior Director of Marketing, Jillian. This is a great moment to kind of grab a different customer, a different fan, and showcase the relationships we've had over the years.
CS: BoxLunch carries items from Her Universe, Hot Topic, and others. How does that work, in terms of partnership?
Rick: You'll see us in the future really showcasing Her Universe as a brand within the BoxLunch space. It's important for us to show that, not only are they a sister brand, but they're a brand that resonates with a broader fandom. You'll start to see us showcasing Her Universe product with the Wicked release coming up and a lot of the great design elements that Her Universe brings to the table, along with what we do in BoxLunch. It's a great combination of those two brands. You'll see that it gain more momentum as we continue down this road. We already do a lot of Her Universe stuff, we just don't showcase it a lot. This is a moment for us, with the Wicked launch, to kind of start showcasing it in a bigger way.
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CS: Do you have a favorite moment or fandom that you’ve worked with from the past 10 years?
Rick: I'm a huge Lord of the Rings guy. So for me, when we come out with unique products, it's always so special to see. I am a customer as well. I'm not just a part of the team. For all of us on the buying team, and on the marketing team, we all have a certain love and passion for something that brings back memories of when you were a kid or growing up. Whatever that fandom is, you'll see it in the product, and it's very personal. Sometimes they throw me a bone and do something really cool with Lord of the Rings. We're doing some glassware sets that are amazing because they know I like it. But if I like it, it means a lot of other people will like it. We're doing a Green Dragon bottle opener, which is really cool. Keep your eyes open for that coming soon.
CS: Do you have a fandom that you haven't worked with that you would really like to?
Rick: he one that I would love to do, that we've not been able to do, is Akira. It's something that we've always asked for, and we just can't get. We get a lot of requests for it. Personally, it kick-started my anime love. That would be the Holy Grail. The art is so amazing. We keep asking, so hopefully one day.
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CS: How hard is it to get IPs to create the merch for them?
Rick: Now that we've been around for 10 years, it's a lot easier for us to explain why the fan wants this certain IP. As long as we walk in with a game plan and a strategy around what our customer wants, it usually helps a ton. We've not hit a lot of walls in terms of getting IP. Where we hit walls is some of the creative aspects such as, we want to do this one scene and they don’t want us to. But they'll give us the IP so we've not really had any issues. There are some, like Akira, that are really difficult to get because they just don't want to sell merchandise for whatever reason. But for the most part, they're pretty open to it. I think they know us as a brand. They know our sister company, Hot Topic as well. They know that we are true to the fandom, and we're not going to do anything crazy. We're going to support them the way they want it to be supported.
On the BoxLunch website, you can see all the 10th anniversary items they have, which include special Loungefly, varsity jackets, totes, and a very cute vinyl figure. These are all limited editions, so if you want something, pick it up soon!
Image Source: CultureSlate
If you’re lucky and have a store near you, you can ship for free anything you buy online to the store for pickup, which is a huge perk. They also have a fantastic rewards program, which includes a birthday reward, an anniversary reward, and rewards after spending certain amounts of money, and is a great place to treat yourself or find a unique gift for someone else.
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