Retail Profile
It’s a small world after all…
Pocket Planet, an indoor miniature world attraction, will be arriving at London’s Oxford Street in 2025. A retail store is set to open beforehand, this summer. Toy World sat down with Pocket Planet and Event Merchandising, the company behind the retail operation, to talk about what the immersive miniature experience will offer visitors.
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he idea of Pocket Planet was born seven years ago, after Mark Vlassopulos, the founding director, was fascinated by an exhibit in Hamburg called Miniature Wunderland. He recognised the opportunity to develop something similar in the UK and spent several years planning, finding the right partner to run the retail operation, and eventually securing a vibrant location on London’s Oxford Street. Mark, who is a veteran leisure developer, says: “This gives us a great opportunity to create an amazing indoor miniature world, which we describe as an immersive
Warren Traeger
journey. We have secured a triple-A location which we hope will attract 1m visitors per year from our third year.” The Covid pandemic put plans on hold for a while, but work is finally underway to welcome visitors to the retail space this summer and to the miniature world experience itself in Q1 2025. The attraction will span 20,000 square feet, with an additional 10,000 square feet of retail and food & beverage. “Normally these sorts of exhibits have a gift shop that you pass through after you've been through the ticketed attraction, but we’ll have at least 6000 square feet of retail which customers don't need a ticket to visit,” Mark adds. “We're both a primary retail destination, as well as a place that visitors will pass through after the attraction. 1m visitors per year to Pocket Planet should give us a massive additional throughput for the shop, but also an amazing opportunity to present products as part of our exhibit. As you pass through the attraction, you'll be seeing all kinds of amazing things – and hopefully will be stimulated by the miniature exhibits and motivated to purchase when you eventually get to the shop. Of course, the 150-200m people who visit Oxford Street each year and can just wander into the shop without a ticket may also be inspired to buy a ticket for the attraction. We recognised that we needed a really excellent retail partner and that's why we have formed a partnership with Event Merchandising.” Pocket Planet will be the UK’s largest indoor miniature world and will take visitors on a journey through the UK and around some of the world’s most iconic buildings and landmarks. The miniature world experience will be held on
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the first floor, alongside a café overlooking Oxford Street. The largest section of the attraction will be based on the UK, with a large and interactive model of London, both the north and south banks. A miniature airport with a 20-metre runway where planes will take off and land every three minutes is sure to be a highlight, and the remainder of the exhibition space will take visitors on a journey around the world. Visitors will see a mountain region showing Alpine scenes and a waterfront area will comprise everything from huge freight vessels with cranes loading containers on and off, to cruise liners and pleasure craft. There will even be safari, jungle and volcano scenes to enjoy. Many more scenes, small and large, will complete the journey and each of the scenes will feature movement and action – with many of the vehicles and characters to be found in the shop on the way out. A host of stimulating elements in terms of lighting and sound will transform the attraction from daylight to nighttime every 10-15 minutes, giving visitors different experiences throughout. They will also be able to push buttons to interact with the models right in front of them. Behind the miniature models will be projected visuals and localised sound, adding another layer to the immersive experience. Pocket Planet’s ambition is to be “London’s favourite attraction”, and Mark believes that Pocket Planet can only achieve the “favourite status” if there is a great retail offer to allow the visitors to take home a piece of the journey they have just enjoyed. Downstairs in the basement, the retail area will be
