Jul 12, 2021

Lovepop opens a new store in Boston’s Harvard Square

Lovepop, a designer of pop-up cards and gifts, opens a brand new store in Boston’s Harvard Square, marking the fourth location in the company’s hometown and the fifth new retail opening in the U.S. since the start of 2020.

Since the beginning, Lovepop has used an omnichannel sales approach to maximize its reach and engagement with customers. Continuing to prioritize physical retail in addition to e-commerce in 2020 led to the company closing out the year with 44% year-over-year growth and more than 500 times the revenue earned in its founding year.

“While we continue to see significant success as a digitally native brand, physical retail was our fastest-growing channel pre-pandemic,” said Wombi Rose, co-founder and CEO of Lovepop. “As we build towards our mission of creating one billion magical moments, retail continues to be a core channel for expansion and the most immersive brand experience for Lovepop.”

Previously occupied by competitor greeting card company Papyrus, which shuttered all of its brick-and-mortar stores in 2020, the new 1,200 square foot space in Harvard Square is Lovepop’s largest retail location and will stock the company’s full range of 3D product offerings — from cards to flower bouquets and giant pop-up gifts.

“Every aspect of this new store is intended to facilitate connection and engagement with the community,” said Colin Spillane, head of retail at Lovepop. “From the layout of the space to the design of the product displays, we are encouraging customers to experience the magic of our pop-up art and share their reactions in real-time. We hope they’ll be inspired to do something special for the people they love.”

The selection of Harvard Square was not only a strategic business decision, but is a nod to the company’s history. While on a Harvard Business School trip to Vietnam, naval architects Wombi Rose and John Wise discovered the incredible paper art form of kirigami and were inspired. The duo took their engineering background and combined this ancient art with the sliceform structure used in ship design. In 2014, Lovepop was born in a basement in Harvard Square and went on to receive investment from Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary in December of 2015.