Does a Merch-First Pop-Up Put Coffee Quality Second?

Mstand opened a pop-up called Mstand Market on the first floor of Guangzhou Tianhuan Plaza, selling cups, bags, and other merchandise. Coffee is not sold on its own; it comes inside four set meals priced from 128 yuan, with a 298 yuan tier working out to roughly 70 yuan per item. Longtime customers say the format puts merchandise before the drink that built the brand.

The brand, once noted for its coffee quality, has drawn jokes about being a coffee shop that survives by selling merch. Locations have already appeared in Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu, and criticism points to uneven merchandise quality and pricing that does not match the specialty coffee image, raising questions about how the shift affects brand positioning.

Recently, Mstand opened a pop-up store called Mstand Market on the first floor of Guangzhou Tianhuan Plaza, mainly selling merchandise. The store displays various cups, bags, and other merchandise, while coffee has instead become a supporting role in the set meals. This "buy merchandise, get coffee" model has sparked heated discussion among consumers, with longtime users saying it puts the cart before the horse. Mstand, once recognized for its coffee quality, has now become a topic of discussion because of its merchandise, and has even been jokingly called "a coffee shop surviving by selling merch." The uneven quality of the merchandise and controversial pricing strategy make the shift in brand positioning lamentable.

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Recently, a dark-themed Mstand store quietly appeared on the first floor of Guangzhou Tianhuan Plaza, and many passersby noticed its presence.

This Mstand has a stylish and cool decor, attracting many curious netizens to go in and explore. However, once inside, they found it was very different from an ordinary store. Everywhere in the store were dazzling arrays of merchandise, and some described feeling as if they had stepped into a merchandise wet market.

It is understood that this store, called Mstand Market, is a pop-up store launched by the brand this year, focusing on merchandise sales. It has previously appeared in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, and other cities, attracting local merchandise fans to visit and check in, and to pick out cups, bags, and other items they like.

It is worth noting that the merchandise in the store is not sold separately, but settled according to the number of items customers choose. From the in-store menu shared by netizens, it can be seen that the store offers four price-tier set meals, each including one cup of coffee, with the difference being the number of merchandise items.

In other words, whether customers choose a mug or an earphone pouch, as long as they take one item, they have to pay for the lowest-tier 128 yuan set meal. If they want a better deal, they have to choose the "cheapest" 298 yuan set meal, which works out to about 70 yuan per merchandise item on average.

For this pop-up store, merchandise fans are naturally delighted, and after it opened they rushed in to shop, marveling at the dazzling array of merchandise on the shelves. But Mstand's longtime users feel this marketing approach somewhat reverses the priority. "It would still make sense if it were coffee with merchandise as a gift, but the reverse is a bit ridiculous," "putting the cart before the horse."

Once upon a time, Mstand won the approval of many coffee lovers with coffee quality not inferior to brands such as Starbucks and Manner, and the exquisite merchandise given with set meals also prompted fans to buy the casket for the pearl, driving product sales.

However, the merchandise that once added much luster to the brand has in recent years become Mstand's most eye-catching label. Users pay more attention to what new cups and bags the brand has launched, while rarely discussing the drinks that should be the main attraction in limited-edition set meals. Some users even lamented that people used to joke that Mstand was "buy merch, get coffee," and unexpectedly this joke has come true — a chain coffee brand has opened a merchandise supermarket, and the coffee in the store has instead become the complimentary drink in the product set meal.

In addition, some customers who went to buy merchandise reported that although the merchandise sold at Mstand Market is rich in styles, its quality is uneven. One user bought a backpack in the store and it was damaged after just one day of use, believing that Mstand's products are low quality and high priced. "Mstand's merchandise is very roughly made," "although the cups look good, they are quite useless in practice, and the backpack also looks nice, but the quality is no good."

It cannot be denied that the "drinks + merchandise" marketing model can indeed attract the attention of merchandise fans and bargain hunters, and helps to a certain extent with brand promotion and increasing store sales. But in the eyes of Mstand's loyal fans, the brand does not attach importance to developing coffee products, and instead has gradually turned giveaways into its main business, which is lamentable.

After all, no one expected that Mstand, which could once compete with brands like Manner, would now become "a coffee shop surviving by selling merch."

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.