High street slime store, Gootopia, opened a seven week-long pop-up at Southside Shopping Centre in Wandsworth on 1st August. After winning the centre’s Soapbox Challenge, which had invited independent local businesses to present their business ideas for a chance to secure a month-long occupancy at the centre, the pop-up became the brand’s second store.
The Southside pop-up features shelves of ready-made slime, slime ingredients, activator, and their ‘goo-to-go’ slime vending machine. It also provided a variety of activities and experiences for kids of all ages, including two summer slime workshops, ‘Tropical Blast’ and ‘Ice Cream Dream’. These workshops are held every day until 3rd September, with guests having the option to book the 1-hour sessions online. The store also hosts birthday parties, school science workshops, drop-in slime-making sessions, and live slime-making demonstrations by expert slime creators.
As a perk of winning the Soapbox Challenge, Gootopia’s brand was showcased on the iconic Piccadilly Lights in London, a location where 100 million people pass through annually. Pieter Strömbeck, Centre Director at Southside Shopping Centre, commented: “We were delighted to welcome Gootopia to Southside Shopping Centre in August. Their interactive workshops were a perfect way to keep children engaged during the summer, providing an experience that was both inclusive and unique. “The Soapbox Challenge was a brilliant initiative that gave emerging businesses a chance to showcase their brand in a bustling retail environment. We were proud to offer local independent brands like Gootopia an opportunity to thrive, and it was wonderful to see children diving into creating their own slime masterpieces.”
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Nishi Bowan Saville, Co-founder of Gootopia, remarked: “Our children have always been passionate about slime, and their enthusiasm drove us to establish Gootopia. Winning the Soapbox Challenge at Southside Shopping Centre and expanding our reach to another London location was a thrilling experience. “The Gootopia pop-up stocked both ready-made slime and the necessary ingredients for families to recreate the fun at home. It was a space designed for children of all ages to explore and get creative with slime. It was heartwarming to give children a platform where they could proudly craft without concerns about the mess.”
Gootopia is open at Southside Shopping Centre from 1st August to 16th September. For more details about the pop-up store and to book sessions either at Southside or Lewisham, visit https://www.gootopia.co.uk/.
