Funko Plans To Open Giant Store In Hollywood This Year

Funko Plans To Open Giant Store In Hollywood This Year

By Hoai-Tran Bui/Feb. 28, 2019 10:30 am EST

The Funko figurine maker company plans to open a nearly 40,000-square-foot store in Los Angeles in late 2019, according to CNN. The LA store will be located in Hollywood Boulevard, not far from the famous TCL Chinese Theatre, and next to a Shake Shack and Soul Cycle. That’s intentional — Funko CEO Brian Mariotti told CNN Business that they plan to target both tourists and local residents.

“So many people are looking for an experience when they shop — not just buying things,” Mariotti told CNN Business. “This is retail times pop culture.”

Funko began as a project to create various low-tech, nostalgia-themed toys, and gradually expanded into one of the biggest pop culture-themed merchandise lines today. The recognizable Funko Pop vinyl figurines and bobbleheads depict everything from popular superheroes, to directors, to obscure TV procedural characters.

There is no set opening date for the LA store, but Mariotti anticipates a Halloween ribbon cutting. The company is still working with a building developer and local officials in Los Angeles, with parts of the store being built in Washington and getting shipped to California. The store will be made of more than simply shelves and displays — the new Hollywood location will let customers pose with life-size Funko figures and sit in a toy version of the Batmobile.