Storyline: The popular Chinese toy Labubu continues to ring up sales in the U.S. as the holiday shopping season arrives, providing an economic boost to many cities. Over the past two years, Pop Mart, maker of the mischievously grinning dolls, has set up more than 140 stores and vending machines in the U.S. The company's co-Chief Operating Officer Justin Moon said the number of stores is expected to exceed 200 by the end of the year. Two have recently opened in San Francisco, including one at Stonestown Galleria Shopping Mall. The new store has even become an important stop for foreign visitors, most of whom came just for the popular toy. Parents at the store said their children have gone "crazy" for Labubu. Some shoppers believe the hype is dropping off slightly, but they still come to the store to buy other Pop Mart toys. "I'm kind of a collector, so I've always collected a little bit of everything. But I do think people are kind of moving a little bit off Labubu to kind of other Pop Marts stuff, but still within Pop Mart," said a shopper. Retail experts say hard-to-get Labubu models are still fetching high prices in second-hand markets and Pop Mart stores are still doing brisk business. "It's gone really viral on TikTok -- people post unboxing videos. It's probably the most sought after toy if you want to call it a toy, for the Christmas season this year," said Caly Cary, trends analyst at CouponFollow. San Francisco was slow to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Stores and restaurants were left empty as many workers stayed home and worked remotely, which makes it welcome news in October when Pop Mart held a grand opening for a second San Francisco store at the famed Union Square area. They've taken up residence in a space that was previously vacant since 2019. At the new two-story location, business was nonstop in the middle of the day on a weekday. "I probably have 10. And I used to buy them only on TikTok shop, but I happened to walk past Pop Mart and we said, 'let's try our luck.' And we were successful," said a female shopper. "Pretty nice. I already got a full set of this one, but I just wanted to get one more," said a male shopper. "I think it's definitely helping drive traffic to downtown, which we need on Powell Street. So many shops have closed. So it's nice to see this driving traffic back here," another female shopper said. "[When] some store posts that they have the Labubus, there's a line out the door. So, there's a rabid following on social media. And when this is done, kind of like in whether it's strip malls or regular malls or whatever, everyone in that area is going to see the benefit of that because there's people posting that they will drive an hour to go get a Labubu," said Cary. Cary says Labubu's blind box marketing concept has also caught on with other companies, ranging from Nike to Sephora to Lego. Shotlist: San Francisco, California, USA - Recent: 1. Various of Pop Mart store at Stonestown Galleria Shopping Mall, Labubu dolls, shoppers 2. SOUNDBITE (English) customer (no name given): "This is the first Labubu for her." 3. SOUNDBITE (English) customer (no name given): "He is crazy about Labubu. She is crazy about Labubu." 4. Various of people shopping at Pop Mart 5. SOUNDBITE (English) customer (no name given): "I'm kind of a collector, so I've always collected a little bit of everything. But I do think people are kind of moving a little bit off Labubu to kind of other Pop Marts stuff, but still within Pop Mart." 6. Labubu blind boxes 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Caly Cary, trends analyst, CouponFollow: "It's gone really viral on TikTok -- people post unboxing videos. It's probably the most sought-after toy if you want to call it a toy, for the Christmas season this year." 8. Various of street 9. Pop Mart Union Square store 10. Various of people shopping at Pop Mart 11. SOUNDBITE (English) customer (no name given): "I probably have 10. And I used to buy them only on TikTok shop, but I happened to walk past Pop Mart and we said, 'let's try our luck.' And we were successful." 12. SOUNDBITE (English) customer (no name given): "Pretty nice. I already got a full set of this one, but I just wanted to get one more." 13. SOUNDBITE (English) customer (no name given): "I think it's definitely helping drive traffic to downtown, which we need on Powell Street. So many shops have closed. So it's nice to see this driving traffic back here." 14. Various of Labubu dolls, people shopping in store 15. SOUNDBITE (English) Caly Cary, trends analyst, CouponFollow (starting with shot 14): "[When] some store posts that they have the Labubus, there's a line out the door. So, there's a rabid following on social media. And when this is done, kind of like in whether it's strip malls or regular malls or whatever, everyone in that area is going to see the benefit of that because there's people posting that they will drive an hour to go get a Labubu." 16. Various of Labubu dolls, shoppers [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]